Successfully sell bikes online: The optimal Shopify Bike Shop

The online bike market is booming, and more and more retailers are seeing the opportunity to offer their bikes and accessories online. With Shopify, one of the largest e-commerce platforms in the world, you can quickly and easily set up a professional bike shop and add almost limitless features thanks to Shopify Plus. This article explains how to successfully launch a Shopify bike shop, which features will be particularly exciting for you and which online bike retailers you should have on your radar as a benchmark. Let's get started!

Can I sell wheels with Shopify?

The most important question, which we have actually already answered in the introduction: Can you sell bikes with Shopify? We say: Absolutely! Shopify is an excellent choice for selling bikes online. Thanks to integrated SEO optimisation and analysis tools, you can easily present your products and closely monitor the performance of your shop. Features such as automated inventory management and customer retention tools make it easy for bike retailers in particular to work efficiently and retain customers in the long term.

Shopify also makes it possible to effectively manage marketing activities such as email marketing and personalised offers to maximise sales and target customers. We will go into the most important advantages and functions in more detail in the course of this blog post.

What do I need to consider when setting up a bike shop?

The choice of a suitable theme, a clear structure and a user-friendly design are crucial for the success of a bike shop. Here are some additional important points that you should consider when setting up your shop:

• Product presentation and images: High-quality, detailed product photos are essential for selling bikes online. Present your products from several perspectives and offer zoom functions.

• Filter options: To help customers find the right bike, offer filters for categories such as bike type, brand, price and special features.

• SEO optimisation: SEO-friendly descriptions and the targeted use of keywords such as ‘sell bikes online’, ‘Shopify Bike Shop’ and ‘Shopify Bike Store’ are crucial for ranking in search engines.

• Mobile optimisation: A responsive design is particularly important for the target group, as many customers search for bikes and compare prices on their mobile devices.

What advantages does Shopify offer bike shops?

Shopify is a powerful e-commerce platform and is by no means only intended for small and up-and-coming brands. The enterprise version Shopify Plus in particular allows countless in-house developments and customisations to be made, which ultimately leave nothing to be desired in your Shopify bike store. Let's take a closer look at some of the most important advantages:

Ease of use:
Shopify is designed so that retailers can get started quickly and manage their online shop easily, even without prior technical knowledge. The user-friendly interface and intuitive navigation make it easy to maintain product pages, inventory and orders. This makes Shopify ideal for bike shops that want to focus on selling and marketing their products without having to invest a lot of time in managing the platform. Of course, Shopify Plus and additional functions add complexity, but the ease of use remains the same.

SEO integration:
Good findability in search engines is essential to generate organic traffic and attract new customers. Shopify offers a variety of SEO tools that allow merchants to customise metadata, add alt texts for images and create SEO-friendly URLs. These functions help bike shops to be more visible in search engines in the long term and to address their target group in a targeted manner.

Analysis and reports:
A comprehensive dashboard provides insights into key figures such as sales figures, customer behaviour and the origin of traffic. This data is not only helpful for understanding which products are particularly popular, but also for adapting marketing strategies and optimising the customer journey. Thanks to Shopify Analytics , bike shops can respond specifically to the needs of their customers and improve the performance of their shop.

Customisable product variants:
It is important for bike shops to offer different models, sizes and colours of their bikes or accessories. Shopify allows you to flexibly map such variants so that customers can easily find the right option for them. This customisability is particularly valuable for retailers who offer a wide range of products and equipment options.

Automated management:
Integrated CRM tools and inventory management features allow merchants to stay on top of stock levels and customer relationships. Shopify supports the automatic updating of stock levels when sales are made and provides information about low stock levels. This makes it easier to manage the shop and ensures that bike shops can work efficiently without having to carry out manual updates.

Connectivity to third-party tools:
Shopify offers over 6,000 tools in the Shopify App Store to customise your online shop. With Shopify apps or API interfaces, you can easily connectyour online shop to PIM systems, ERP systems and more.

Customer acquisition and retention:
Shopify offers various ways to attract and retain customers in the long term. Through integrated email marketing, discount campaigns and loyalty programmes, bike shops can regularly address their customers and encourage them to make further purchases. These tools can be used to strengthen customer loyalty and improve customer retention through targeted campaigns - ideal for bike shops that want to build a lasting customer relationship.

Automation through Shopify Flow:
With Shopify Flow, an exclusive feature of Shopify Plus, bike shops can automate recurring processes and workflows, saving time and making day-to-day operations more efficient. For example, stock alerts can be set up automatically to avoid shortages of popular items such as e-bikes or accessories. Marketing campaigns, such as sending discount vouchers to customers with high order values, can also be automated. Shopify Flow helps bike shops to deploy resources in a targeted manner and reduce routine tasks, allowing teams to focus on customer-facing tasks and services.

Omnichannel integration for seamless customer experiences:
Bike shops can benefit from Shopify's omnichannel capabilities by connecting the online shop and brick-and-mortar stores. With Shopify POS (Point of Sale), bike retailers can synchronise stock in real time and offer their customers flexible shopping options, such as the ‘Click & Collect’ option, which allows customers to pick up bikes ordered online directly from the shop. Returns can also be processed across all channels. This seamless integration improves the customer experience and strengthens customer loyalty, as purchases are flexible and convenient - regardless of the channel.

International expansion with Shopify Markets:
With Shopify Markets, bike shops have the opportunity to expand internationally easily and centrally. Markets for different regions can be managed and customised via a central platform, including currency and language settings as well as tax and customs calculations for international sales. Especially for retailers who want to offer e-bikes or bike accessories in different countries, Shopify Markets offers a solid basis for market entry and scaling in new markets through localised shopping experiences and the automation of country-specific requirements.

Special functions for bike shops on Shopify

Now you know the general advantages of Shopify and Shopify Plus. However, you're probably even more interested in the functions and special developments you can implement for your bike shop with Shopify. Here are some popular use cases that we have already been able to realise for our customers.

Deferred payment (e.g. via Paypal or Targobank)

Some of our existing and former customers, such as B.O.C. and Liquid Life, offer their buyers flexible payment options in the form of deferred payments. The ‘Targobank financing’ option is available in the checkout, which opens a calculator for the term and financing when selected. The buyer can freely select the number of deferred payments and the calculator shows the total amount, the monthly deferred payments and any interest transparently.

To provide customers with the best possible information about this option, we have included information about financing via PayPal and Targobank on product pages (PDP) and in the shopping basket. In addition, there are pop-up windows that appear when you click on the payment option and provide further details on financing.

Frame height calculator (e.g. Smartfit)

Shopify retailers such as fahrrad.de offer their customers a practical frame height calculator on the product pages, which ensures that the selected bike fits the buyer's body size and ergonomics perfectly. This innovative function can be realisedwith the Smartfit tool,for example, which is seamlessly integrated into the Shopify shop via an API and visually adapted to the brand design. The calculator is easy to use: Customers enter a few body measurements and immediately receive a recommendation for the ideal frame height.

Bike leasing

For many online bike dealers, bike leasing is a popular option that benefits their customers. With leasing, the bicycle or e-bike is rented by the employer from a leasing provider and made available to employees. Well-known leasing providers include Jobrad, Lease a Bike, BusinessBike and Deutsche Dienstrad.

Our customisations for shops such as B.O.C. include a clear presentation of the leasing options and smooth integration into the purchasing process. Customers can find all the important information and steps for ordering a bike via leasing on the product page, in the shopping basket and in the checkout.

Product page

Whether a bike is suitable for leasing is already displayed on the product pages. In the B.O.C. shop, our developers have integrated a drop-down menu that provides detailed information on the leasing partners Jobrad and Easybikeleasing.

Other shops such as fahrrad.de offer a button on the product page (PDP) for selected bicycles that allows users to fill out a leasing form directly. Both options can be flexibly implemented in Shopify.

Shopping cart

In the B.O.C. shopping cart, we have implemented a selection for leasing partners such as Lease a Bike and Easybikeleasing for leasable bicycles. Selecting a partner opens a form that requests specific information such as employer data, framework agreement numbers or employee codes. This form is dynamically adapted to the selected leasing partner.

Checkout

In the checkout, the system then only shows the customer the appropriate payment options for the selected leasing model. In the case of B.O.C., for example, the payment option ‘Jobrad’ appears. This specific payment method was integrated into the front end by our developers and ensures that the leasing order is completed smoothly, with the relevant information being transferred to the back end.

Bicycle insurance

Many online bike shops offer their customers the option of taking out suitable insurance directly when purchasing a bike or e-bike. At B.O.C., the insurance solution from linexo was integrated into both the front end and the back end in order to offer this additional service seamlessly. On the product pages, customers are given a prominent option to select an insurance policy that offers optimum protection for their new bike. A click on ‘Info’ opens a pop-up with detailed information on the various protection options, which can vary depending on the bike model.

If the insurance is selected during the ordering process, the contract is not concluded immediately: the purchase data is checked by B.O.C. and linexo after the ordering process before the actual insurance contract is concluded. This system is a customised solution implemented by our developers.

Click & Collect and store availability

A click & collect function is essential for retailers who sell bicycles both online and in-store: customers order their bicycle in the online shop and then collect it from a branch of their choice. To ensure that this works smoothly, availability in the shops is displayed on the product pages. Shopify offers several ways to seamlessly implement Click & Collect.

One option is the native Shopify function via ‘Shipping’ and ‘Locations’, where all shops are stored with address data. Alternatively, the Multi-Location Inventory Info App can be used to display stock levels at a precise location and automatically label products with their store availability.

A third option, for particularly customisable requirements, is the use of Shopify Flow and variant metafields. Which solution suits best depends on the respective requirements of the shop.

A practical example: the native Shopify solution was used for the B.O.C. bicycle shop. In order to fulfil the special requirements, backend adjustments were made as the retailer has several warehouses from which orders can be processed. For a user-friendly solution, a ‘local pickup generator’ was integrated, which allows customers to select a pickup branch regardless of stock levels.

Examples of successful bike shops

Fahrrad.de

Fahrrad.de is a versatile online shop for bicycles, clothing, spare parts and accessories. As a customer of Latori, the shop was migrated to Shopify Plus, including the transfer of all customer data, orders and products. The new shop now offers four additional languages, including French and Dutch, as well as features such as the buying guide and frame size calculator. By integrating Wishlist King, Klaviyo and country-specific SEO logic, Fahrrad.de was able to scale internationally and offer its customers an improved shopping experience.

B.O.C.

B.O.C. (Bike & Outdoor Company) is a leading supplier of bicycles, e-bikes and accessories, offering a comprehensive range of products for bicycle and outdoor enthusiasts on boc24.de. As a long-standing customer of Latori, B.O.C. decided to migrate to Shopify Plus. With over 15,000 products, the range includes everything from spare parts to finished bikes. Our collaboration focused on connecting over 40 retail stores and synchronising complex product and inventory data. We developed a user-friendly shop with a fresh design and integrated important functions such as Click & Collect, Targobank and Klevu for an improved search function. These measures ensure that B.O.C. is optimally equipped for the future and offers its customers an outstanding shopping experience.

Bicycles.de

Bicycles.de is an online shop for bicycles, e-bikes and matching accessories that stands for a straightforward shopping experience. In collaboration with Latori, the migration to Shopify Plus was successfully completed to make the shop more user-friendly and powerful. By implementing an intelligent product search, filter functions and special tools such as the frame height calculator, customers can quickly find the right bike. Thanks to our customisations, bicycles.de can target its customers and optimise the online shopping experience.

Conclusion

Shopify is a powerful platform for bike retailers who want to take the plunge and sell bikes online. With the right strategy and Shopify's wide range of features, you can not only sell bikes online, but also establish your brand and build long-term customer relationships.