Staying competitive in a dynamic market is essential for bike shops who want to top their numbers from 2024. In a marketplace where “Buy Now, Pay Later” options are assumed; shops must provide payment options that allow consumers to bring home the bikes and accessories they want with payment plans built for their budgets. Consumer financing is the ideal way to increase your shopper’s purchasing power while boosting your sales and revenue
This latest post from United Consumer Financial Services highlights why consumer financing is essential to increasing your bike shop’s 2024 sales. Read on as we dive into the myriad benefits that offering consumer financing will bring to your business.
1. Increase Purchasing Power and Average Order Value (AOV)
Recent research from Bankrate found that only 39 percent of Americans can afford to spend $1,000 at once. If your products are beyond that price point, you’ve cut yourself off from many consumers in the U.S. When you consider the value of specialty bikes; shop owners must find a way to bridge the gap and increase the affordability of these products and equipment.
Consumer financing breaks down high-value bike purchases into affordable monthly installments that shoppers can repay over time. Financing options increase shoppers’ purchasing power, allowing them to choose the bikes and accessories they want –– when they want them.
Flexible payment choices empower your customers to get more bang for their buck. Instead of spending a large sum at the point of purchase, they repay their loan over time in smaller chunks, increasing affordability and their capacity to bring home their new bike on their timeline.
In addition to boosting customer purchase power, financing options can increase your shop’s average order values. When lump sum payments are spread over months, adding accessories to the purchase only increases those loan repayments. Shoppers can buy more without feeling the impact on their savings or monthly budgets.
2. Initiate Positive Experiences with Your Store and Products
Customer experiences drive long-term relationships –– and long-term profits. Offering consumer financing is a simple, straightforward way to initiate positive experiences with new and existing customers regarding your store and products.
Begin the conversation around financing early in your interactions, and highlight these payment options often. Communicate the ease of financing and the many ways it can enhance their bike purchase, including the simplicity of purchase and the ease of affordable scheduled payments.
Customers will have a more positive experience at your bike shop when they can bring home the bike they want, when they want, at a surprisingly affordable monthly rate. And when customers have a positive experience buying their bike from you, they’ll be back for future bicycle and accessory purchases and maintenance or repair needs. Best of all, they’ll confidently return to you, knowing they can afford their purchases through low monthly payments.
3. Expand Inclusivity
Specialty bikes are high-value items: they’re high quality, and the price reflects that. These costs can create financial barriers to potential customers who don’t have cash or access to credit to pay for their purchases upfront.
Offering consumer financing allows your bike shop to break down these barriers and attract a wider audience of bike shoppers, including those with not-so-great credit or large savings to put toward a new bike.
United Consumer Financial Services’ simple financing credit application provides a notice of approval to shoppers almost instantly, allowing them to move forward with their bike purchase immediately. Capitalize on the emotion and excitement of the experience by providing payment flexibility that empowers purchase and helps you increase your bike shop’s sales.
4. Open the Door to Cross-selling and Upselling Opportunities
Though bicycles are your shop’s primary revenue driver, your inventory includes the accessories and equipment cyclists seek. You provide the cycling community with the tools they need to make the most of their bike purchase: bike racks, helmets, kits, shoes, and more.
Consumer financing is essential to increase bike sales and opens the door to cross-selling and upselling opportunities. When adding new cycling gear to their purchase only increases their monthly payment by a few dollars, why wouldn’t your customers want to choose new cycling shoes or a few backup tires or even upgrade their bike purchase?
Expanding the digital shelf gives consumers more options for new bikes, complementary equipment, and accessories. This competitive market requires bike shops to find innovative ways to serve shoppers. Consumer financing makes selling (and upselling and cross-selling) simple. Give customers more autonomy and power as they shop, and they’ll happily add more items to their purchases.
5. Showcase Affordability with Financing Options
Pricing and affordability are important factors in consumer purchase decisions. Consumer financing options increase affordability across the board, especially for large purchases such as electric bikes or hybrid bikes. A bike that might be out of reach for a customer immediately becomes affordable when financing is on the table.
Riders looking for a bike, whether road bikes, mountain bikes, or other specialized bicycles, know their purchase will be an investment. They enter your shop prepared to spend. But with flexible payment options, bike shop owners can present patrons with affordable payment plans that expand their bike and accessory options.
Showcase the affordability of your inventory with consumer financing. Lower payments disarm hesitant shoppers and give them the confidence and freedom to explore your store.
Increase Your Bike Shop Sales with Consumer Financing through UCFS
Consumer financing is a powerful tool that helps you earn sales you’d otherwise lose. Affordable financing plans reduce financial barriers to purchase while reducing budget concerns that would have kept shoppers from moving forward with their purchases.
United Consumer Financial Service has spent decades serving merchants and businesses, delivering financing options that anticipate and meet the needs of the seller and consumer. Credit application is simple, with a quick notice of approval. Autopay options make loan repayment effortless. Our U.S.-based customer support team is here to help our merchants feel confident about their financing choices.
Let UCFS accompany you to provide bike shop consumer financing options that boost revenue, serve your customers, and position you for lasting success in 2024 and beyond. Contact our team to learn why consumer financing is essential in increasing sales for your bike shop and how you can start with us today.