ACTing on change
Posted on in Business News , Cycles News
The ACT recently spoke to CyclingIndustry.news to discuss the ever changing plethora of membership services, what we are doing to help IBDs in the current retail landscape and our plans for the not too distant future. If you missed it, read on below!
Most of our readers will be familiar with the ACT, but for the uninitiated, what do you do and who do you do it for?
The Association of Cycle Traders (ACT) is the largest cycle trade association in the UK.
Open to anyone in the cycle trade - from mobile mechanics to the largest suppliers in the industry - the ACT's aim is simply to support and promote independent cycle retail in the UK.
The ACT is a not for profit organisation wholly owned by its membership, operating with a voluntary board of directors. However the day to day running of the ACT is managed by ActSmart, a small team who are responsible for delivering all the business support services available to members.
The ACT has existed for over 100 years - how has it changed over the years to suit today's cycle businesses?
The organisation itself has been around since the early 1900's and it's fair to say that cycle businesses have changed quite considerably in that time - so the ACT has had to adapt! The range of services and support available is always being modified to suit the ever-changing retail landscape; from our Ride it away service to meet consumer demand for finance to our brand new online ‘Guide to e-bikes' to cater for the electric bike phenomenon, it's all been designed with the modern day cycle business in mind.
We are also now seeing a lot more workshops and mobile mechanic businesses coming on board, so we've adjusted our offering by including an introductory membership package to suit smaller business needs.
As well as the type of services on offer changing, the way we do business has changed too. As retail moved online so did we. Businesses can now access our services and support online at a time to suit them, pay membership, manage their account and even start their Cytech journey with the online Theory one course.
There are a number of membership levels, tell us what's on offer:
Through our partnership with ActSmart we want to give businesses more than just a badge to say ‘you're an ACT member', so we set out to add more value to membership by providing a range of services with each subscription level.
Gold subscription is by far our most popular package. When businesses join as a Gold subscriber they'll become a full member of the ACT and gain access to some of our most popular services including Ride it away retail finance, discounts on business insurance, discounts on Cytech training and much more (as well as an ACT window sticker and certificate for display in-store).
For smaller businesses who don't necessarily need to access all these services, we offer the Bronze subscription package which provides key business support services such access to 24 hour legal advice helpline, tax investigation protection, preferential card processing rates and more.
If a business is new to the trade and doesn't want to commit to an annual subscription we recommend joining for free to take advantage of free consumer promotion and receive regular news and updates.
Subscriptions can be upgraded at any time and membership fees can even be paid monthly to help cashflow.
Saving retailers time and money is key to your services. Give us some examples of big wins seen by retailers with the ACT's help in 2017:
We put a lot of time and effort into educating retailers on retail finance, as this service is one that retailers are really in control of and it gives the all-important top line a boost. The more they make of finance, the better their sales. We provide online educational resources to help maximise finance for individual stores and our support team are always on hand to give advice. Last year Ride it away accounted for £100m of sales in the cycle sector so we see this as a big win!
One good example of how we've helped save members money is through LSI, our partner energy provider. Last year one retailer saved themselves £700 p.a. just by using LSI to switch their electricity contract!
We always urge retailers to come to the ACT first, whatever service they are looking for. Each of our service providers has been handpicked by us to ensure retailers benefit from economies of scale, save time, hassle and more importantly money!
The ACT positions itself as a champion of the IBD business. Bike retail is currently sailing stormy waters. What investments is the ACT making to assist those businesses currently struggling?
We've seen many store closures over the last couple of years but going forwards it's going to be the shops that adapt to the changing retail environment who will thrive and we want to give them the tools they need to do this.
As the battle to compete with internet players continues, service will be a big winner in the near future. This means that the workshop is more important than ever. It's vital that small businesses are investing in their biggest asset - their staff - by giving them access to top quality training, so we in turn are always investing into the recognised international industry qualification for mechanics - Cytech.
The e-bike course was launched in order to cope with demand for this increasingly important part of our sector. We have also been busy developing the new apprenticeship standard, alongside a selection of industry organisations, to better prepare candidates for the bike trade.
ATG training have also just recently moved one of the Cytech training centres to a bigger, dedicated location in Oxford, creating a flagship for Cytech training and bike mechanics.
On top of this we are looking at ways to make it easier for mechanics to access technical information, as well as further champion and promote mechanics by launching a dedicated online community by the end of the year.
Away from Cytech, the ACT has also got behind a number of key initiatives this year; partnering with TfL on the recent e-bikes.london project which is encouraging more Londoners to try and ultimately buy e-bikes, to lending our support to Local Bike Shop Day - the ACT's ultimate goal is drive more people into specialist cycle retailers.
Retail finance saw a particularly strong year in 2017. Using finance tools what opportunities exist to shift more bikes in the present climate?
The businesses using finance properly are reaping the rewards but there are still lots of businesses either not offering finance, or not making the most of it. Retailers should be looking at how they use finance as a sales tool, not just a payment option. This year we are on a mission to educate ALL retail staff (not just the store managers) on how to use finance to attract new customers, to upsell and bundle products, mixing APR's to protect margin and much more.
We are always on hand at trade shows or at the other end of the phone to provide additional training to any retailers who think they could be doing more with finance. Plus, keep an eye on the CI.N finance workshops throughout the year!
What investments are due from the ACT in 2018 to further build on the membership proposition?
Over the coming year we are looking to strengthen the ACT service portfolio even further to meet the demands of our members. One of the services we are looking to re-introduce is free business banking. Having offered this service many years ago it is now making a comeback following demand from members and being offered preferential terms from one of the world's leading banks.
We are also currently working on bringing a brand new initiative to the cycle industry in the form of a gift, loyalty and marketing app... keep your eye on the ACT website for more details on this.
For more information on the ACT visit cycleassociation.uk, call 01273 427 700 or email info@theact.org.uk.
