When you see a business state that it is “100% retailer only”, it’s fair to say that it grabs attention. With this in mind, BikeBiz sat down for a conversation with industry veteran and MD of Belgian Cycling Factory UK, Russell Merry. What followed will definitely grab retailers’ attention.
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Russell, thanks for making time to speak with us. I saw a LinkedIn post by BCF Marketing Manager Laurien Celis, which stated, “Ever since 1997, we are 100% IBD only. And we stand by that.” Let’s open by exploring this.
I’d open by saying – as a founder and CEO-led business, with Jochim Aerts at the helm – we have absolutely no problem in swimming against the tide. We make decisions that we think suit the business. We call it rider/retailer centric.
What does that mean?
- We’ll never be the competitors of our retail partners. Ever. With any of our bike brands.
The way we see it, we are a bike business. We’re experts in design and manufacturing, have built what we believe to be the best B2B platform in the industry, and have brand and marketing capabilities focused exclusively on delivering for our retail partners.
- We partner with and work with experts in retail.
- We work together – for our collective benefit.
No room for ambiguity here, then. And a very appealing message for retailers, I’m sure.
I’ll say this: We’ve just held our BCF Partner Days event – our dealer showcase – inviting current partners and prospective customers to Belgium to see the full BCF range. A recurring theme at the show was the way we do business.
New bikes aside, the biggest topic of conversation was margins and brands competing with their retailers. I’ve rarely heard so many shop owners/business owners talk about exploring business beyond the traditional market leaders. It’s clear there is a significant shift happening in the industry.
BCF has invested heavily in making sure we offer deep support to our retail partners.
We feel we’re well-positioned to offer retailers a compelling package that extends beyond amazing bikes and offers retailers strong support across all facets of the business.
Talking brand awareness and driving footfall, we deliver a social media marketing package via a solution called Apostle, ensuring we are a highly visible brand across all our retail partners’ social media marketing channels.
BCF does all the work at HQ to create content and build out marketing campaigns. Our retailer can share this easily via their own social media. It’s such an important part of creating brand visibility and generating local footfall for each retailer we partner with.
Out in the wild, you’ll see Ridley at Rouleur Live this year. An important part of our move to elevate the brand, making sure riders and industry alike see the changes we are making to our business.
The brand is on the up when it comes to the UK market. Previously, buying Belgian, buying a Ridley, in the UK, was something that aficionados did: The cycling cognoscenti. Your history-of-cycling enthusiasts. We know that we need to be visible to a much wider audience, to do real justice to the amazing bikes we make.
Talking footfall, and enabling our retailers to convert store visitors into buyers, we have an industry-leading configuration platform, which enables prospective customers to build their own bike and save this with a unique build number or QR code. This can be shared with the store, which can order the bike based on the code, or revisit the build and make further tweaks to the spec.
When we manage our online footprint, this also means knowing what is searched for by area of search. We’re able to make recommendations to retailers with confidence that local area search for, say, a Retro graphic and Red paint is popular. Just another way our dealers benefit from our investment in making working with us a great business experience.
Looking at the challenge other brands have with model years, and the battle with discounting old stock. That’s not for us, not how we do business.
We run a life cycle with paint and graphic options – a dynamic colour – then ‘retire’ these from the main product line, whilst continuing to make them accessible available only via the configurator. Premium colours have a ‘cost option’ price in the configurator. This way – with the paint option selected via the configurator, offering customers unique ways to personalise their bike – we ensure retailers see an increased RRP. The ultimate anti-aged stock model? Certainly better than discounting last year’s ‘old’ colourway.
BCF in the UK marketplace is undergoing significant change. Tell us a little about this.
In the UK market, the launch of BCF UK sees us raising the game for the brand and our presence in the market. Our existing retailers will already have started to feel the positive effect. Our new partners will know us to be a force in the marketplace.
BCF UK has expanded the support team from two to five members, including a managing director, global brand director, and sales operations manager, to provide more localised business support and grow our dealer base.
We know retailers are looking at the bike brands they stock, and considering how it feels to do business with them – both the retailer support and the margins on the product – like at no other time in recent history.
BCF, as a business that exists solely to work with retailers, not sell against them, is confident in our ideals – and the business structure we are putting in place. We’re a business working with retailers, working to make them feel valued and supported, and ensure their customers love their bike(s).
Working with BCF is about making good decisions for the business; it’s about winning new customers and supporting long-term customer relationship building. With the right retail partners, everyone wins.
Talking bike brands, you’ve Ridely, Merkx, Nukeproof, and the recently introduced e-bike brand Aeres.
We believe we have built the strongest portfolio in the industry with Ridley, Eddy Merckx, Nukeproof, and now our new e-bike brand, Aeres.
Ridley is a Belgian icon, is WorldTour-proven, and we are bringing the fastest bikes in the world for any rider. Eddy Merckx brings to life the essence of the beautiful and historic sport of cycling. Nukeproof has a passionate global fanbase, and with key members of the original Nukeproof team on board—people who shaped the brand’s ride feel and loyal community—it’s the most exciting chapter in the brand’s history. There’s incredibly strong retailer interest, and we’ve got new models that will open the brand up to a wider market, whilst bringing the hottest tech’ on our core models. Nukeproof will be one of the most significant mountain bike brands globally in the coming years.
The launch of Aeres completes our portfolio, offering retailers products that appeal to the fast-growing leisure and daily mobility segments. It’s a vital, evolving part of the market, and Aeres allows us to better support our retail partners and reach new riders.
Our brand statement has naturally evolved: “Belgian at heart, international in our thinking” as we believe we are the natural partner for quality retailers globally.
