BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
A new report from USA-based Gluskin Townley Group has pointed to a domestic market of 7.5 million used bike owners, whose cycles are worth some $2.4 billion, as potentially impactful on new cycle sales.
Used bicycles have been around for decades, but this is the first research that identifies the market size, spending power, and demographics of the used bicycle owner.
“This report has showcased used bicycles as a $2.4 billion market with 7.5 million owners and this level of activity has, we believe been impacting the sales performance of new bicycles. It also calls into question the accuracy of sales forecasting done by the supply side and the true U.S. bicycle market size,” said Elliot Gluskin, managing partner of the Gluskin Townley Group in announcing the new report.
“The findings from this report detail two important markers for change. One is that Enthusiasts and Moving Ups, the two cycling segments considered the core customers of specialty bicycle retailers, are responsible for the majority of planned spending on used bicycles – moving away from the higher priced new bicycles.
“The second finding is the average price paid for recent used bicycles fits right into a recent blog by the NBDA about bike shops offering used bicycles at prices that won’t scare potential customers away with sticker shock.
“We call on the supply side to use this report as a first step to understanding this significant subset of the U.S. bicycle market. For bike shops, this report can help retailers act quickly and strategically to capture some of this market activity, which can result in healthier retailers serving a growing and currently underserved market.” Gluskin concluded.
The findings stem from the American Bicyclists Study, conducted during the first quarter of 2014 using an electronic survey delivered to a nationally representative panel managed by one of the leading panel research companies in the U.S. The sample was balanced to geographic and demographic norms based on the 2010 U.S. Census data. A total of 1,500 completed qualified responses were received.
Full reports on the market in its entirety can be found here.
