BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
Local Bike Shop Day 2020 is now taking place on 5th September.
The new date was confirmed with a poll among participating retailers. Following the recent possible postponement survey that took place in March, there was an overwhelming vote (94%) in favour of deferring the day to a later date than the originally planned 2nd May.
The two most popular postponement months among participating retailers proved to be September (43% of votes) and October (16% of votes). Participating retailers were then asked their opinion as to what specific date in September or October would be most preferable for them as a cycling retailer and key member of the industry.
The feedback that the ACT has attained from retailers over previous years has proved Saturday to be a popular day for the event to occur, as it enables more customers to be able to get out and visit their local bike shops. With this in mind, retailers partaking in the Local Bike Shop Day 2020 New Date survey were given nine dates to choose from, each Saturday in September and October.
The most popular date chosen was Saturday 5th September, with 30% of the total vote. Reasons behind retailers favouring this date over others included it being the start of the new school term, normality being likely to have restored by then and the weather generally still being pleasant in September. The second most popular dates were Saturday 26th September and Saturday 12th September, each receiving 22% of votes. As Local Bike Shop Day is a day for the trade, the majority voted for date is the one that will be going ahead.
It is hard to predict the state in which retail will be operating by September 2020 due to the ongoing situation with COVID-19, the ACT has said, and if in the case that it is forced to cancel this year’s Local Bike Shop Day it may then have to wait until 2021 for another viable date.
Following this current cycling-industry-high, signs are pointing towards this year being highly successful for cycling retailers across the country. However, the ACT said it wants to ensure that much of this success is reflected directly in the footfall and profits of the IBD, something that can be very much encouraged on 5th September. This new date ties in with kids returning to school, giving parents the incentive to equip their children with a set of wheels for the school year.
The ACT has worked hard over the last few years to make Local Bike Shop Day a success for bike shops across the country. This has included implementing campaigns, investing in promotional materials and partnering with a number of supporting organisations, all of which has been done to benefit IBDs and spread the word of this day to as many customers and potential customers as possible.
Retailers are still able to sign up for the postponed date on the Local Bike Shop Day website here.
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