BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
The UK cycling market has grown by an average of around 4% each month since the beginning of the first lockdown last year, Halfords has said.
Prior to the pandemic, there were 0.42 bikes per head of population in the UK. The figure for the Netherlands is 1.35 bikes per head.
“It may seem unlikely that the UK could ever match Holland for cycling enthusiasts, but we really have seen an astonishing level of uptake in the past 12 months,” said Paul Tomlinson, Halfords’ cycling director.
Over the Christmas period, Halfords reportedly sold bikes at the rate of 18 every minute. Between May and October 2020, the retailer’s cycling sales were 54.1% higher than in the same period of 2019.
“We’re doing our best to meet demand but when stock reaches our stores it gets snapped up very quickly,” added Tomlinson. “We’re working night and day with our suppliers to increase availability. We’re encouraging customers to subscribe to our ‘email me when back in stock’ service which is proving extremely popular.”
Research commissioned last year by Halfords showed that there were over seven million neglected bikes sitting in sheds and garages. Since Halfords launched its Get Back On A Bike campaign last May, more than 300,000 people have brought their bikes into Halfords for a free 32-point check and the company has repaired or serviced 750,000 bicycles.
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