BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
New data from e-commerce platform RedBrain.com has revealed what the UK has been searching for and buying during the last three months.
It found that inner tubes sales were up 1,800%, searches for bicycles were up 500%, searches and sales of saddles were up 300% and bike tools sales were up 500%.
The data also shows that in March, as lockdown started, searches for new bikes were 35% up with a 50% increase in sales. However, April saw the largest surge in new bike interest with searches up over 500% and sales over 70% up.
During April, searches and sales of all types of DIY maintenance and repair kit “skyrocketed” with orders flying off the warehouse shelves faster than e-commerce stores could keep up. May also saw increases in searches on top of April’s spikes in customer demand for maintenance and parts, but sales were down as retailers struggled to keep up with the demand.
Alastair Campbell, chief growth officer for RedBrain, said: “We’ve seen a huge impact on all our lives recently from COVID-19 with fundamental shifts in online shopping patterns as we try to navigate the ‘new normal’. It’s easy to think the world has stopped and life is put on hold but our data tells a different story. We are all going through similar experiences and buying lots of the same things, at the same times.
“Our RedBrain Insights offer a view into our changing online shopping habits from initial panic for hygiene and foodstuffs to longer term purchases such as seeds, garden equipment and cycling equipment. Is the nation settling down into the new ’normal’? it’s hard to tell at the moment but the insights into purchasing and volumes certainly show that online retail is evolving but healthy and the UK should hopefully be racking up the miles on their bikes long after lockdown has ended.”
