Originally Posted by
Cpn_Dunsel
The Bike Industry is going to have a completely different and almost unrecognizable (for some of us) landscape very soon. Many Brick & Mortar shops will be disappearing as the new business model of selling online, grabbing all the money upfront through electronic means, and then delivering whenever, will be a new norm.
The corps have seen that people will adapt to this new and ridiculous business model. People will buy, unseen, $4500 bikes and then wait months for them to arrive. They will go 'all in' with the credit card monies and then sit and wait for delivery. The industry will be consolidating locations and is already making it harder for independently owned locations to get bikes.
This is not good news for LBS or most consumers.
I tend to agree with one exception: In very large cites I think LBS will continue to exist because of service needs. There are so many people who, for various reasons, don’t work on their bikes. I am one of them. I’ve spent a lot of time in shops and wish I had a dollar for every person I’ve seen who has come in for a flat tire or to have other relatively simple work performed.