Local Bike Shop Day 2025: Mark your calendars for Saturday, May 3rd

The Association of Cycle Traders (ACT) has announced that this year’s Local Bike Shop Day will take place on Saturday, May 3, the weekend of the early May Bank Holiday.

For cycling retailers, spring 2025 represents a critical point in the year. Come rain or shine, Local Bike Shop Day offers a focal point for businesses and customers alike, with targeted promotions focused on encouraging people to visit their local bike shop.

With footfall something that retailers can directly influence (unlike the weather), there are several opportunities to increase visitor numbers, building and strengthening community connections, and driving sales across the Local Bike Shop Day long weekend.

Promoting your events as a month-long lead-in campaign

Once retailers have signed up, the time is right to spread the word to their community and encourage more people to get involved.

Be it on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, or via a weekly newsletter, sharing regular content promoting your participation in Local Bike Shop Day and highlighting events and promotions the business is running in the lead up to and over the weekend is critical to driving footfall and increasing impact.

This will not only help you to boost footfall to stores but also give businesses the chance to highlight what makes their shop stand out, why consumers should shop local and what sets each store apart from bigger national retailers.

LBSD examples of footfall-increasing promotions:

• Running promotions in-store: This could include 10% off certain items, giving 15% of the value of on-the-day orders back as account credit, 3 for 2 on cycling accessories, etc.
• Offer a free basic repair session/workshop: This could involve running a drop-in session for free puncture repairs or demonstrations in basic maintenance tips such as lubricating a chain, which lubes to use, etc. As well as targeting experienced cyclists, Local Bike Shop Day is also aimed at encouraging people who are new to the cycling world to get on their bikes, so any tips you can share with current and potential customers would be much appreciated.
• Guided bike rides: Help your local community to get out and enjoy their local area with a guided tour through the countryside/National Parks, Local Cycle Routes or even Local MTB Trails. As well as giving people the chance to explore their local areas, this can also help new cyclists to build confidence.
• Organise a shop charity ride: Encourage your customers to sponsor your staff or even to jump on a bike themselves to complete a long-distance ride in aid of a worthy charity – this could either be outside or on smart trainers.