Retail finance - the perfect partner
Posted on in Cycles News
It's no secret that the UK bike trade is facing tough times but despite falling sales volumes overall, the ACT can reveal that IBD retail finance sales remain strong, with double digit sales growth over the last 12 months to the end of September 2017.
According to recent HMRC data, UK bike imports have fallen dramatically, but the actual value of all imports saw growth vs last year, suggesting that it's the sale of higher priced models that's making up for the lower number of sales. On top of this we know that e-bike sales are increasing year on year and are currently estimated to account for over 10% of sales in unit terms and a lot more in terms of revenue.
"It's about time we expanded the cycle market's slice of the consumer credit pie."
Retail finance provides the ideal solution for the growing popularity of higher priced bikes and e-bikes. In fact, according to a recent BikeBiz poll, 56% of retailers say that 'pricing of the product' is the biggest challenge when selling e-bikes. With a loan limit of £15,000 Ride it away is a perfect alternative to C2W where the capped £1000 often puts these models out of a customer's price range.
In the UK, consumer credit was worth over £85bn last year. More customers have come to expect retail finance as standard with it being commonplace for purchasing cars, furniture and electrical goods, but the cycle trade is taking just a small segment of this market. It's about time we expanded the cycle market's slice of the consumer credit pie.
Around 850 retailers are offering finance via the ACT's Ride it away scheme, yet most are not maximising it to its full potential. The businesses that do utilise it well are reaping the rewards with total Ride it away sales over the last 12 months accounting for £100m. But with just a fraction of IBDs offering finance, and even less using it effectively, the ACT estimate this annual figure has the potential to increase threefold!
Retail finance is growing across multiple retail sectors and it's time the cycle industry took a bigger cut. Ride it away retail finance is the perfect partner for the growing popularity of higher priced bikes and e-bikes.
Whether you're already a Ride it away retailer and want to know more about making the most of finance, or if you would like to get started, contact the ACT today or visit rideitaway.biz for more information.