Around the Workstand

Around the Workstand Daily - we are often asked about training and our How To videos are the most viewed videos we produce so Around the Workstand Daily hopes to address frequent, short, videos to help our clients learn important features and do so more efficiently than the production work that goes into a more planned video. So, they won’t be perfect sometimes but they’ll help those who would rat...

Today is the first episode of a series for 2025 focused on helping bicycle shops effectively market and grow their businesses. We’ve always talked about marketing on the show however, we saw in 2024 that merchants who proactively promoted their businesses, the ones who engaged with the tools available to make their stores more visible to shoppers, those stores had impressive wins while business ow...

Wow, 2024 went by in the blink of an eye, faster than a Di2 shift, how was your year? Ryan, Suzie, and Mark take a look back at our bicycle industry sales results for the year, broader economic conditions that contributed, and where the winners made a difference. Then, a look at the trends heading into 2025 and what we can all expect for bicycle and aftermarket sales. Marketing and, specifically,...

We’ll be taking some time away from the podcast during December so this will be our final 2024 episode. We thought we’d recap some of the accomplishments of 2024 and look forward to 2025. Around the Workstand will resume in January 2025 and we’re looking forward to another year of sharing tips and actionable information with you all. Around the Workstand grew a lot in 2024 so thank you to everyone...

Tips for how AI can help in retail - what other ways are you using AI? Great brainstorming partner  Start with clear goals  Ask for specific results Use to break a big project or some event planning into easy action items AI tools within other applications are an easy way to begin to experiment - Apple Intelligence, email apps, text apps, etc, Grammarly Warnings and pitfalls merchants should be aw...

It's hard to believe we are nearing the end of October 2024, but it's true. If you've looked at your inbox, gone to your mailbox, or watched any TV, you will have noticed that holiday marketing is in full effect. If closing out 2024 sales well is on your to-do list, now is the time to start implementing holiday marketing for your bicycle shop. We have resources, we have support, and...

September ecommerce metrics show consumers shopping but the typical bike shop not seeing the results online. Site traffic remains strong at +7% Google search volume for “bike shop” comparable to last year Total ecommerce sales +7% Typical dealer ecommerce sales -11% (leading indicator for industry) 1,800 fewer click & collect orders than August = less retail traffic PeopleForBikes Webinar Nerd...

Gearing up for our season Fall is when shops start working “on” the business, not “in” the business For 25 years, without fail, our phone rings off the hook in the fall Gonna have a lot to talk about this year Always talking about websites, ecommerce, and Google search Point of sale is the center of a lot of our conversations BRAIN: 35% of shops are considering a change in POS in the next 12 month...

Ryan has a cool trip planned with friends on the Aquarius Trail hut to hut next week. 6 days in Southwest Utah with Nebraska friends and no logistics work required. June retail sales PeopleforBikes Bright spot is inventory stabilizing across the channel I’m joining a PeopleForBikes webinar later this month to discuss June is typically the high point for sales, but this year the month was very soft...

We often get wrapped up in the day-to-day, putting out fires type activities, and we don’t want this to sound preachy but, cycling competes with other consumer goods for attention and dollars so bike shops that don’t stay top of mind with the shoppers who have already done business with them are at a disadvantage but it doesn’t have to be that way. Sometimes I’m sure we all wish it weren’t this wa...

Suzie is under the weather this week so Ryan and Mark take on recent issues affecting the retail bicycle landscape. We hope you feel better soon, Suzie! Law firm focused on electric bike injuries Electric Bike Library Content - included in all Workstand website subscriptions Premium Electric Bike Content - included in our Marketing Subscription, available to all Workstand website clients for $400...

Tips for making your website your own. The closer your website aligns with your in-store presentation, the better. Shoppers generally meet your website before they visit the store so take an honest look at your site and answer the following question - is your website what you want to present to potential customers? Is it what you wouldn’t say to them if they were in your store?  Working with the i...

Welcome Around the Workstand! Summit - we met as a team recently Big characters. Great culture. Aligned behind our purpose Awesome leadership team Industry talk Trek D2C announcement Expected evolution Seems to be a relatively well thought out program Unknown impact Playbook - Have a great digital strategy More important than ever We’ve got you covered on technology and marketing June online resul...

As a fully remote company, Workstand teams try to get together in person once or twice yearly. This week is one of those times and our Client Services Team - Client Success, Catalog, and Business Development - will be meeting in Boulder, CO. We may be a little slower to respond than usual but it's for a good cause. Weeks such as these are always full of learning moments and great information...

In this engaging episode, we dive into various topics from celebrating Pride Month to insights from the NBDA Retailer Summit. The conversation starts with a lively discussion about attending a drag show during Pride Month and the experience of embracing gender expression. The focus then shifts to the NBDA Retailer Summit, highlighting the successful collaboration between suppliers and retailers, w...

During the episode where we tried to answer some common questions in a straightforward manner, one of those questions concerned the idea of what makes a good website homepage. We’ve been thinking about that since the episode and today, we want to help boil that answer down to a base level so that everyone can have the tools to identify good content. This goes for websites, emails, and all sorts of...

Look back at April data and help share some actionable items for helping retailers capture more business  Ryan was back in Colorado last week and saw a lot of our team based out of there. We did a pinball happy hour on Thursday, a gravel ride on Friday, and went to the Supercross race in Denver on Saturday.  We are stoked about the big software enhancement we released last week. The product detail...

There are many things in life where clear-cut answers are difficult to come by. Websites and marketing certainly fall into this category. Do you ever wish someone would just tell you the answers? We will. Today, based on our own experience - even if you only consider us, Suzie and Mark, that is a combined 20 years here at Workstand working with bicycle retailers all over North America - and with a...

Ryan joins Suzie and Mark for our monthly industry update. This time around, it's also a quarterly update and we look at results and trends thus far in 2024. Ryan tells us about the Bicycle Leadership Conference (BLC) he recently attended and where his travels will take him in the coming months on behalf of all at Workstand. BLC 300 bicycle industry leaders in attendance  Pragmatic about inve...

We talk a lot about marketing and selling by way of great websites, Google Ads, email marketing, and more but this week is different. This week we want to point out that stores shouldn't hard sell all the time. One of the best things a store can do to build long-term value within their community is to meet consumers where they are and help them find value in bikes, riding, and being a part of...

The band is back together! Ryan is back and will join us each month to share key takeaways from current inventory data,  talk about big-picture topics in our industry, and answer your questions. Higher total sales amounts (by the dollar) in 2023 but lower total unit sales The most recent report from PeopleForBikes provided some summary information about 2023. Last year’s market value was nearly $1...

In this engaging episode, we had a lively conversation with Julie Walsh, our marketing strategist at WorkStand, discussing the Spring Marketing Playbook. Julie shared insightful tips and tricks for preparing your business for the spring selling season. We delved into the importance of cleaning up your website, updating settings, and ensuring a fresh, spring-like feel to attract customers. Recommen...

Workstand was invited to present this week at the NBDA P2 Group meeting. We were both there along with Lauren Webb, our Agency Director, and Matt Viara, our Paid Search Team Manager, and we talked about ways to improve ecommerce performance. There were some great questions and conversations so we thought we’d hit the highlights of that meeting today. Custom Websites - it’s about more than just des...

The beginning of the New Year is always a time of reflection, goal setting, and transformation. It’s a great time to look at your website the same you may be looking at your life, career, fitness, etc. We can break this process down into 5 different phases: Step 1: Goal setting Step 2: Review Step 3: Plan Step 4: Train Step 5: Promote  Goal setting Look over your sales, marketing, processes, and i...

Welcome to a new year! It’s the beginning of our 25th Anniversary as a company. Fraud is a constant topic of concern for our merchants. Just because Christmas has passed doesn’t mean there isn’t still potential for chargebacks related to those sales. Coming out of a heavy holiday sales season, let’s look at how you can protect your business without losing too many sales going forward. How can you...