Best Small Shops names Rides on Air as a COVID-19 Innovator
Posted on in Business News , Cycles News
novators' series, exploring independent retailers that have excelled during the Covid crisis, we spoke with Paul Lynn, Director of cycle shop, Rides on Air.
"We had to completely review our stock levels and ordering model, knowing that three to four months down the road we may experience big delays with bikes and general stock. Because we took a proactive approach, throughout lockdown we have had a steady amount of orders from a number of regions across the UK, thanks to a healthy stock of bikes and accessories.
"This move required a significant financial commitment at a time of great uncertainty. We recognised an early spike in eBikes so took the decision to invest in a large variety of stock which has seen our sales on eBikes increase four-fold in six months on the total volume for last year."
The Rides on Air team has collaborated with other independent cycle shops to fulfil orders, Paul adds: "We have relationships with a small group of other stores who we worked closely together with, in moving stock overnight to meet customer demand and have directed customers to each others' stores which had the model/size they were after in stock.
"The announcement of lockdown was a shock, something I never considered would happen in my lifetime. Combine this with the initial difficulty of closing our business when we were looking forward to a summer of growth - and we found ourselves in a daunting situation. But, we picked ourselves up and started our plans to cater for change!
"Keeping employees and customers safe has been an integral part of this, from changing the shop's layout and providing staff with their own phones to delivering bikes to customers who are isolating, there a number of practices that we will be maintaining for the rest of 2020 at the very least."