ACT, Cyclescheme joining forces to champion IBDs on Local Bike Shop Day

The ACT and Cyclescheme are joining forces to make this year’s Local Bike Shop Day, on Saturday 28th August, a ‘great success across the nation’, focusing on championing IBDs and all that they have done to support the nation over the last year.

Local Bike Shop Day celebrates independent cycle shops across the UK and is designed to appeal to all cyclists – new and dedicated enthusiasts – with the aim of increasing web traffic and driving more footfall through the door of the IBD up and down the country.

During last year’s celebration, the hashtag #supportyourlocalbikeshop had a reach of 360,025, an increase of 380% in comparison to last year, as well as having over 400,000 impressions. The Local Bike Shop Day website had over 5,000 unique visitors with the most popular page being the find a local bike shop search facility, indicating consumers actively looking for their local participating shop.

The day was supported by a record number of cycling organisations and partners including the All Party Parliamentary Group for Cycling and Walking (APPGCW), BikeBiz, British Cycling, Cycle To Work Day, Cyclescheme, Cycling UK, Cytech, Freewheel, Insync, the London Bike Show, Love to Ride, Raleigh UK, Sustrans, The Cycle Show and Transport for London. A few well-known faces also got on board such as Jeremy Vine, Gail Porter and Sharron Davies.

This year, the ACT will be working with more partners to make Local Bike Shop Day 2021 ‘the most successful one to date’ and to sustain the reach that was attained in the midst of last year’s cycling boom.

The date of Saturday 28th August falls at an ideal time to encourage children to start cycling when they return to school, said the ACT, and to inspire the nation to continue cycling after the seasonal good weather comes to an end.

How is Cyclescheme supporting Local Bike Shop Day?
This year, Cyclescheme will again be supporting Local Bike Shop Day by providing both consumer and trade prizes as well as a range of POS materials to send to bike shops and helping to spread the word of Local Bike Shop Day through its consumer-facing digital channels, which have a reach of c. 30,000 followers.

Last year, Cyclescheme gifted six shops with £150 worth of vouchers to treat themselves and their staff to a night out as a special thank you to those shops engaging the most on social media. Owner of one of the winning bike shops, Heather from Saddles and Paddles, said of her involvement in the day: “I always try to support initiatives like Local Bike Shop Day as they help small businesses like mine reach out to customers, both new and old, while being part of a bigger movement.

“There’s never been a more important time to support local, independent shops and so I was keen to use Local Bike Shop Day to remind people of all the benefits of shopping with us, rather than chains or online stores.”

To read the full list of last year’s Local Bike Shop Day prize-winning customers and bike shops, click here.

Neil McGuigan, senior manager channel sales at Cyclescheme, said: “We are pleased to be supporting Local Bike Shop Day for a second consecutive year. Cyclescheme evolved from an independent bike shop, so raising awareness for local bike dealers is a very important cause for us, and one which we take great pride in championing.”

Jonathan Harrison, marketing director at the ACT, added: “Local Bike Shop Day is now an integral part of the cycling calendar for both the trade and consumers and we’re delighted to be working alongside Cyclescheme once again to help raise the profile of Local Bike Shop Day and of course the IBD on the 28th August 2021.”

Sign up now
To get involved, be listed on the Local Bike Shop Day website, download the logo and banners for websites and start to receive dedicated email news and information, IBDs can sign up here: localbikeshopday.co.uk/sign-up-now.

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Read the July issue of BikeBiz below: