Tandem x Squish: BikeBiz 2024 Bike Brand of the Year winner

This piece first appeared in the May edition of BikeBiz magazine – not subscribed? Get a free subscription.

BikeBiz caught up with Peter Kimberley, CEO of Tandem Group, parent company of BikeBiz 2024 Bike Brand of the Year award winner, Squish Bikes. 

Here we talk about award-winning impact, market challenges, ways to serve customers, and what good retail partners look like when you sell bikes to people (who might, or might not, one day call themselves ‘cyclists’).

Peter, almost six months on from Squish winning the BikeBiz Bike Brand of the Year award, how are things? 

Let’s start by saying that we certainly see winning an award as a real recognition of the brand. That rubber stamp has credibility, which is valued by ourselves and our customers. It builds confidence. 

We certainly saw an increase in enquiries on the back of it. In the weeks post-award, we took around 100 inbound enquiries. That’s an impact we’re very grateful for.

How does that translate when you look at sales performance? 

Our Squish sales grew by +69%, year on year. Part of this is driven by how we manage stock availability, and part of it is the dealers we are working with.

Whether it is a visit by a member of our sales team or an inbound head office contact, I want bikes in dealers’ hands within 48 hours. Customers want the bike now! We’re hot on this, knowing it makes a massive difference for our customers and their customers.

When we consider our new retail partners, there are key elements we look for:

• We partner with retailers who are genuinely excited about Squish bikes first, not just the profit margin.
• We want to make sure both our existing and new retailers are delivering the right level of service and experience.
• Many parents buying kids’ bikes might be first-timers, so dealers need to be friendly, patient, and helpful.

With children’s bikes we look for a good dealer who focuses on understanding the customer and not overwhelming them with tech talk – no mention of Shimano this, or double butted that – more style, colour, size and how that relates to fun. Then we add in a sticker kit – a simple, fun thing which children love. That’s the stuff kids care about, and, critically, it means parents see their child get excited about their bike.

Every Squish bike has a 10-year warranty. From a parent’s point of view, that is important so they can enjoy peace of mind knowing their investment is built to last. 

Retailers consider children’s bikes as a frequent sale – it is necessary to consider the wider ‘buying lifestyle’ of a child’s bike. Bikes purchased during lockdown are now four years old; a child will have outgrown these bikes and will be in the market for a replacement. 

Interesting to hear you mention that fun needs to be an active element of the experience in-store. 

Fun is something that can’t get lost in these interactions, be that with a child or a parent. The importance of personal service in-store, making customers feel special, can’t be underestimated. A children’s bike sale today may well be an adult’s bike sale to the parent in the future. 

Making people feel welcome and comfortable, ensuring the experience is enjoyable, is essential to making this future ‘add-on’ sale happen. 

How do you see retailers welcoming people with their store design and their customer experience?

Selling bikes to people takes a blend of things. The environment in which this happens plays a significant part.

As an industry, we have to think about how welcoming we are to customers. Are we shaping our shop in a way that feels intimidating or welcoming? Do we understand that this can present a very real barrier to entry?

Shops that focus on bikes as a means to get from A to B generally do a better job with children’s bikes. They know a significant majority of potential customers are ‘people’, not ‘cyclists’. You can see that certain National Retailers stores typically feel less intimidating to non-cyclists. That matters. A lot. Especially if we, ‘the industry’, want to genuinely grow the number of people riding bikes.

Now we also have a significant number of IBDs who also do this – welcome, service, experience, fun – really well. That’s not by accident. They know their target audience, and we know our best retail partners share common traits. 

That said, many businesses, regardless of size, don’t do this well. Too obsessed with tech. Not interested in selling bikes to children. They’re not for us. 

Good dealers focus on understanding the customer and not overwhelming them with tech talk. Squish bikes are designed with a lightweight frame that makes learning to ride effortless and fun.  The bikes offer comfort and stability, available in a range of vibrant colours, helping kids build confidence as they develop their cycling skills. 

And this plays back into your future add-on comments.

Yes. If you are selling a bike to a person who hasn’t been on a bike in a while or is looking at an e-bike for the first time, you earn that trust when making the children’s bike sale.

Building long-term relationships with customers can lead to repeat business when done right, when done well. When a person is in your store spending money, they are now familiar with, comfortable and confident in your business. 

With an e-bike, you may get the opportunity to share some geekiness with your customer – if that’s the way they want to be communicated with and sold to. That is an if which needs confirming. How? Ask your customers open-ended (can’t be yes/no) questions and listen carefully to how they answer. Match their communication style. Don’t go straight into tech mode unless your customer goes there first.

Again, it can’t be forgotten that fun needs to be a major part of the conversation here. An e-bike is fun. It’s a pleasure to ride. The experience is wonderful. You’ll want to ride every day. And this is just as true for younger riders on e-bikes as it is for adults. If the e-bike means they enjoy the experience more and ride more often, that’s a massive win. Creating new riders happens this way. Getting more people on a bike happens this way. Growing the total number of people using a bike is the ultimate goal. That happens when people enjoy themselves and have fun, no matter the age.