BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
Pro Bike Tool has turned four this week.
Today, the business has sold over 450,000 bike tools and accessories. It doesn’t operate from a London office or huge warehouse, instead, the husband and wife team, Chris and Nicole Parr, work from home. Since its formation in 2015, the brand has grown from selling one product in the USA to selling 30 products around the world.
During a period where the cycling industry was growing and e-commerce was on the rise, Chris Parr took inspiration from direct-to-consumer brands such as bicycle manufacturer and retailer Canyon. He started selling bike tools directly via Amazon from a makeshift office on the kitchen table.
The first bike tool, a mini bike pump with in-line gauge, became number two on Amazon within a fortnight of its launch. The product was one of very few on the Amazon marketplace to include a pressure gauge within the hose of the pump.
As the business grew, Nicole Parr left her career in commercial relationship management in the airline industry to join her husband, bringing a suite of analytical and organisational skills to complement his expertise in sales, marketing, and e-commerce. The kitchen table operations were then moved to a purpose-built office within the Parr’s family home.
“So many cycling brands were putting the product first, and very few were customer-led,” Chris Parr explained. “We prioritised our customer’s experience, from purchase to use of the tool, and focused on building a brand as well as tactical use of social media, which was something our competitors were missing.”
“Both our backgrounds were really focused on taking care of the customer, and that has continued into Pro Bike Tool’s ethos. It just feels natural to us, that’s who we are; we don’t force it,” added Nicole Parr.
The Parrs said they are focusing on both improving their current product offering and launching more tools, are they are also looking to building the team, optimising a lot of their processes and systems to become more efficient and effective.
