Work underway for next phase of Bicycle Association’s UK Cycling Market Data Service

The Bicycle Association (BA) has announced that contracts have been signed and work is underway for the next phase of its UK Cycling Market Data Service, MDS 2.0.

Launched in April 2020 and powered by Sports Marketing Surveys, the current service covers over 70% of the UK cycling market by value from data drawn directly from retailers’ till systems across the country.

MDS tracks more than one million products every month across the full range of cycling products and services including bikes, electric bikes, parts, accessories, clothing and services. It captured the sales of nearly 1.4 million bicycles in the last 12 months alone.

The service has underpinned the BA’s advocacy work and provided insights to industry subscribers navigating through the cycling boom of 2020/21 and the subsequent supply chain challenges and changes in demand patterns seen in the post-Covid, post-Brexit world.

The BA said MDS 2.0 will deliver a deeper and more complete insight into the UK cycling market through much more sophisticated and tailored reporting capability and the addition of new data sets that will help add context to the sales analysis.

Market Data Service director at the BA, Simon Irons, said: “MDS 2.0 builds on the success of the last two years and will raise the bar on what the service is capable of.

“MDS 2.0 will transform the service into a full cycling market knowledge hub, allowing the BA to make more sophisticated advocacy arguments and allowing its industry users significantly deeper analysis of their own business performance. We’re thrilled to be working with our partners SMS and Loft on this transformation.”

John Bushell, MD at Sports Marketing Surveys, said: “We are very proud of what has already been achieved and of the trust put in us by the BA and the wider cycling community.

“The MDS is a genuinely transformative service and this exciting evolution will take it to a new level, extending the support available to the cycling industry as it creates happier, healthier and more connected populations.”

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Nick Nettleton, CEO at Loft Digital, added: “We are really proud to be involved in the next generation of the Market Data Service, working with BA and its partners to bring in the latest cutting edge cloud technology tools and techniques.

“This transition will enable MDS 2.0 to grow faster, integrate seamlessly with other services, deliver new insights, improve user experience, and lead the way for technology in the UK’s cycling industry.”

The MDS 2.0 functionality will be gradually rolled out over the next 6-12 months, and the BA said members will be kept fully updated on developments as they unfold.