NBDA Members get discounts from SmartEtailing

About the NBDA

The NBDA has been here since 1946, representing and empowering specialty bicycle dealers in the United States through education, communications, research, advocacy, member discount programs, and promotional opportunities. As shops are facing never-before-seen circumstances, these resources offer a lifeline. Together, we will weather this. We at the NBDA will not waver in our commitment to serving our members even during this challenging time—but we need your support.

Now is the time to become a member as we join together to make one another stronger. Whether you’re a retailer or an industry partner, your membership in the NBDA is one of the best investments you’ll make this year. 

Learn more about the benefits of being a member and join now.

Contact us for more information about the NBDA.

The post Online Sales with SmartEtailing appeared first on National Bicycle Dealers Association.

Step 1. Check your online catalog

On your website, check that you are displaying your correct assortment. Under the “Bikes” menu, select “Electric”. This effort should show you the electric bikes from the major brands that you support, including in-stock models and supplier inventory depending on your subscription level. If you find any issues with the items displayed, please contact SmartEtailing support for assistance. As a reminder, not all cycling suppliers provide content or integrations to SmartEtailing.

Step 2. Direct traffic from your homepage

You don’t need to create additional pages to get customers shopping. Use the drag and drop tools on your website to create a homepage section about your electric bike selection. Add a call to action button titled “Shop electric bikes” linking to your electric bikes catalog page. Many retailers filter the results to in-stock only to create more interest in stocking models.

Step 3. Make your website a resource

SmartEtailing has designed a free electric bike landing page in its page library that you can import and modify. Review the prebuilt content for opportunities to localize to your business, with revised text or images. Add a note about your local selection and expertise. Ensure that the landing page has direct links into your catalog to get consumers shopping. Add another highlight to your homepage directing customers to “Learn about electric bikes”. You have two sections on your website, serving consumers who want to get shopping and those who want to learn more.

Step 4. Drive traffic

Now your website is ready to inform customers and get them shopping. Use your social media channels and email marketing to get more shoppers engaged. Driving traffic isn’t a one-and-done proposition. Reinforce the message regularly in new ways and always link back to your website. Repetition is important. The traffic you build on your site will help with your organic search results over time.

Step 5. Ask for help

If you find any of this confusing or too time consuming, please ask the SmartEtailing team for assistance.

What a great list – Thanks again, Ryan! I hope you take some time to implement these suggestions to capitalize on the e-bike opportunities you have in front of you. In addition to Ryan’s ideas, I would love to hear from you at david@nbda.com, whether you are having success or struggling with e-bikes. This category is such an opportunity for the bicycle retailer to reach new consumers and interest the customers you have already acquired.

The NBDA has been here since 1946, representing and empowering specialty bicycle dealers in the United States through education, communications, research, advocacy, member discount programs, and promotional opportunities. As shops are facing never-before-seen circumstances, these resources offer a lifeline. Together, we will weather this. We at the NBDA will not waver in our commitment to serving our members even during this challenging time—but we need your support.

Now is the time to become a member as we join together to make one another stronger. Whether you’re a retailer or an industry partner, your membership in the NBDA is one of the best investments you’ll make this year. 

Learn more about the benefits of being a member and join now.

The post 5 eBike Website Merchandising Tips appeared first on National Bicycle Dealers Association.

Great merchandising of your website helps a customer shorten their journey. How do you give them something interesting to look at.

1. Make your website ‘the great place to go’:

– 84% of Americans are shopping for something at any given time.

– They aren’t going to buy everything they are looking at, but you can help them DISCOVER IT.

– Get the customer engaging with your inventory more often.

2. Put your products to work:

– Tell the story of what you have, otherwise, your inventory is just an expense.

– Once you put your product online, it becomes a marketing tool.

3. Our business needs:

– Increase the lifetime value of your customer:

– How can you show your customers you are a resource for everything they need?

– Improve seasonal sell-through:

– Market the Buy

– What’s the hook to market the product?

– Create customer excitement

– Don’t sit on the sidelines

– More effective product launches:

– Get your customers excited about new products through your site and not just the brands.

– How can you help your customers engage with the new products?

– Influence positive website metrics

4. Five Key Metrics to gauge the success of merchandising your website effectively:

• Users: Get more users because you are a better resource for people.
• Sessions: Get more sessions out of your customers because they want to come back.

* On average it takes a consumer 79 days to make a major purchase.*

• Bounce Rate: If your homepage looks stale, they may bounce right out. However, if they see fresh content, you may pull them in.
• Duration: How much clicking did the do? Clicking is equal to getting a person to ‘pick the product up in your store.
• Page views: You want your customers to browse and look through your site.

5. Customer Discovery:

– Experience the variety of your selection

– Explore product categories

– Learn about new product

– Browse promotions- move the aging inventory. Promote on website

6. Two parts of your website:

• Homepage: This is the front door to your business.

– Put a new product front and center.

– Don’t take it for granted that people know you have certain products.

• Landing Page:

– This is your silent salesperson.

– Make it easy to engage with the product.

– Make this page have easy access to your store. Contact phone number, address, hours of operation.

Leverage that you are the local expert.

This article summarized an NBDA Webinar presented by Ryan Atkinson, President, and Co-Owner of SmartEtailing. SmartEtailing provides website, marketing, and data solutions to help independent bicycle retailers compete in an evolving retail world. As a new member of the NBDA, you can take advantage of a special offer on a SmartEtailing website. See the discount details here!

NBDA Webinars are concise, information-packed sessions that help independent bicycle dealers survive and thrive in today’s marketplace. To tune in to the next one, visit our Event Calendar and register online.

The NBDA has been here since 1946, representing and empowering specialty bicycle dealers in the United States through education, communications, research, advocacy, member discount programs, and promotional opportunities. As shops are facing never-before-seen circumstances, these resources offer a lifeline. Together, we will weather this. We at the NBDA will not waver in our commitment to serving our members even during this challenging time—but we need your support.

Now is the time to become a member as we join together to make one another stronger. Whether you’re a retailer or an industry partner, your membership in the NBDA is one of the best investments you’ll make this year. 

Learn more about the benefits of being a member and join now.

The post Merchandising your Website to Keep it Fresh appeared first on National Bicycle Dealers Association.

Let’s dive into website basics for bike shops. Customers discover and interact with your business online before they ever walk through your door, and a staggering 85% of shoppers research online before making an in-store purchase.

In a recent NBDA Webinar titled “Bike Shop Website Basics,” Ryan Atkinson of SmartEtailing outlined his recommended best practices for bike shop websites and Google search. While they’re called ‘basic’, they’re table stakes for winning web-to-store conversions.

“Today, consumers tend to interact with your business online before they ever visit your store. It’s super important to help them find your website and to get it configured in such a way as to serve your business well,” said Atkinson.

Websites: First Impressions Matter

There’s an adage: ‘If there’s a mouse in the house, customers will click before they brick.’ And when they click on your shop’s website, they’re asking quite a few questions:

1. Is this site credible? Is it modern and easy to use?
2. Is this site trustworthy? Does this look like a business that values its customers and will be around in the future?
3. Is this a professional company or a hole in the wall?
4. Does this website answer my questions? Am I finding the practical information I need?
5. Does this site make me feel welcome? Do I fit in here?
6. Am I in the right place? Does this business seem to have what I need?

“This all might seem very fundamental,” said Atkinson, “but if you put on fresh eyes and visit your website Today, ask yourself if it checks all of these boxes. If it doesn’t, it would be good to put together an action plan to start working through them.”

Tips for Great Bike Shop Websites

Atkinson advocates for websites that have simple layouts that are easy to navigate and interact with, and that helps the user to feel like they want to stay and have a look around.

He recommends hyperlinking internal pages to each other for ease of navigation and likens this to watching how different customers choose different paths as they walk around your store. “Don’t require visitors to overthink. Make it easy for them to discover things.”

Speaking of navigation, he says many shops fail to utilize the navigation bar at the bottom of their site’s home page. “That’s the user’s bailout option to get to the right page,” he said. “Don’t neglect that space.”

Less is more in web design, especially when considering that over 50% of web usage is happening on mobile devices. (Your site IS optimized for mobile, isn’t it? Take a look at it on your smartphone to check!). Make sure your site’s pages load quickly and keep the data on each page as streamlined as possible. Videos are great, but they load slowly on a cellular data network.

Using simple, clear, and consistent formatting and compelling images further invites the user to click more in-depth into the site, find what they’re looking for, and walk through the doors of your shop.

Summarized Atkinson, “Your website is a utility – a way for customers to get questions answered and make a decision. Always be willing to come back to it and make it simpler and easier.”

10 Tips for Winning Google Search

You’ve built it – but how to ensure that people find your website? To conclude his webinar, Atkinson shared practical tips for bike shops’ search engine optimization:

1. Search is based on three categories: location, services, and product. Focus on these areas within your website.
2. Make your store’s hours and location ridiculously easy to find.
3. Regularly maintain Google My Business, Facebook, and Yelp profiles for your store.
4. Use ‘back-end’ page titles and descriptions to your best advantage, not just for internal naming purposes. For example, “Bicycle repair in downtown Chicago” is more effective for search than “Repair.”
5. Write out the names of the brands you carry in the text on the page and incorporate their logos. Add tags to the logos, so they are searchable.
6. Hyperlink the logos of the brands you carry back to your site, not the brands’ websites. Traffic that leaves your site isn’t likely to return.
7. Be completely transparent and informative with your pricing online. Gone are the days of hiding this information.
8. Create a unique webpage for each service that your shop provides. It is more effective for search than a single page with a laundry list of services.
9. Incorporate brand and product names into the titles of blog posts. This increases the chances of users finding your site.
10. Think like a consumer and be specific to the point of redundancy on your website.

With 84% of Americans shopping for something online at some point every 48 hours, Atkinson promises that the juice will be worth the squeeze of implementing these steps. And for more of his expert advice on search engine optimization, read his Outspokin’ article, “Be Found: SEO Isn’t as Scary as You Think.”

This article summarized an NBDA Webinar presented by Ryan Atkinson, President, and Co-Owner of SmartEtailing. SmartEtailing provides website, marketing, and data solutions to help independent bicycle retailers compete in an evolving retail world.

The NBDA has been here since 1946, representing and empowering specialty bicycle dealers in the United States through education, communications, research, advocacy, member discount programs, and promotional opportunities. As shops are facing never-before-seen circumstances, these resources offer a lifeline. Together, we will weather this. We at the NBDA will not waver in our commitment to serving our members even during this challenging time—but we need your support.

Now is the time to become a member as we join together to make one another stronger. Whether you’re a retailer or an industry partner, your membership in the NBDA is one of the best investments you’ll make this year. 

Learn more about the benefits of being a member and join now.

The post Website Basics for Bike Shops appeared first on National Bicycle Dealers Association.

There’s a lot of noise out there regarding SEO (search engine optimization). Poorly written emails promising “top page number one on the search engine.” Numerous listicles that tell you the “5 SEO Things You Must Do Now,” all pushing various tools, platforms, and consultancies to solve all the issues that will bankrupt your business if you don’t act now.

I’d like to propose another approach to the daunting topic of SEO—don’t be afraid.

The functionality of search engines has changed drastically and frequently over the past 20 years. Still, it’s all been an effort to make it easier for themselves, web developers and designers, business owners, and the end-user who is using all they have to offer.

The 2 Purposes of SEO

Search engines have two purposes:

1. Index of the internet.
2. Provide a quality experience and reliable answers to user queries.

Which means the purpose of search engine optimization is as follows:

1. Help search engines understand your content so that it can be indexed more quickly.
2. Provide a quality experience and reliable answers to user queries.

Purpose #1: Index the Internet

When search engines started doing their thing 20-plus years ago, the internet was the Wild West. Search engines had little to go off of to understand what a website was. Web developers had to code in many signals that would help search engines better understand the topics that their website covered.

Many of these signals still exist today and are a recommended best practice of any SEO strategy. But many web platforms—like Shopify, WordPress, Squarespace, and, yes, even SmartEtailing—have implemented these best practices right out of the box.

In the past two decades, search engines have become much smarter at understanding our content. We can ask our refrigerator to pause the recipe video we watched and tell us what internal temperature we should cook the chicken too. It’s a brave new world.

Purpose #2: Provide a Quality Experience

Provide a quality experience and reliable information to your customers. Think of your website as if it were your store. For example:

• Is it clean and organized?
• Can customers find what they are looking for?
• Are there people there who can answer their questions?
• Are you selling current year model inventory?
• Is the checkout process painless?

Everything you are going to do in your store to provide a good experience, you should also be doing on your website. For example:

• Simple and clear page navigation and helpful links throughout the site
• FAQs and content to answer common customer questions
• Merchandise and promote new product inventory and staff favorites
• Easy to use online payment features

Like your store, you will always be making tweaks to improve the customer experience on your website. Listen to feedback and stay current. Making a good experience for your customer should be your #1 SEO goal.

As mentioned, search engines today are freakin’ smart. They will recognize that your customers’ interactions with your website are valuable, which will benefit your entire website’s organic health.

If you have stale old content, links that are broken, incorrect information, etc., visitors to your site will bounce off and not be engaged with your content and go somewhere else. Search engines will recognize that poor experience and be less likely to show your website when there is a better option.

What Should You Do?

Odds are, you know, if your website’s experience is good or bad. Even the best sites have room for improvement and need to change things to stay relevant. The key takeaway is that it’s a long-term strategy to provide what’s best for the customer.

Like your shop, you might make changes to the layout of the shop once a month or quarter. You’ll bring in new products every so often and give your staff some talking points to discuss with potential customers.

The same can be said for your website. Update the homepage a few times a year with the latest sale you’re running. Write a blog post that answers a frequently asked question like “How do I figure out the right-sized bike for me?” or “Do I have to wear those tight shorts?” Focus on some newer products that you’d like to push.

This is all to say that there is little you need to do RIGHT THIS INSTANT. Your website is likely 95% of the way there, and you’ll spend the rest of your days tweaking that last 5%. There are always little improvements to be made, subtle touches to add, and that has to be taken on as a long-term, ongoing project.

Helpful Resources

As much as I bad-mouthed my colleagues’ writings at the start of this article, they are still accommodating. But search engine optimization is a long-term strategy. If your website is an apparent dumpster fire, get help immediately. Otherwise, take on a few tasks a year and steadily make those improvements to your website’s experience.

Below are just a few useful articles that all highlight best practices for SEO. Start work on doing them all, then start over and do them again. And always remember that five years from now this all may look very different. But the one guiding principle that has remained true over the past 20-plus years of SEO is to provide a good experience for the folks visiting your website, and the rest will follow.

• 5 On-Site SEO Factors That Matter Most
• Anatomy of a Webpage: How to Maximize SEO Impact
• The Beginner’s Guide to SEO
• What is Evergreen Content? A Guide to Long-Lasting Content That Boosts SEO
• Google Webmasters: SEO Mythbusting (YouTube Series)

And if you still want some more help or just someone to talk to, give SmartEtailing a call—we know how to search engine optimize the heck out of independent bike dealer websites.

This post was authored by Ryan Atkinson, President, and Co-Owner of SmartEtailing. SmartEtailing provides website, marketing, and data solutions to help independent bicycle retailers compete in an evolving retail world.

The NBDA has been here since 1946, representing and empowering specialty bicycle dealers in the United States through education, communications, research, advocacy, member discount programs, and promotional opportunities. As shops are facing never-before-seen circumstances, these resources offer a lifeline. Together, we will weather this. We at the NBDA will not waver in our commitment to serving our members even during this challenging time—but we need your support.

Now is the time to become a member as we join together to make one another stronger. Whether you’re a retailer or an industry partner, your membership in the NBDA is one of the best investments you’ll make this year. 

Learn more about the benefits of being a member and join now.

The post SEO Isn’t as Scary as You Think appeared first on National Bicycle Dealers Association.

Words by Ryan Atkinson

How does your website stack up? Your website is your virtual front door. The vast majority of your potential customers are visiting you online before they decide to visit (or not to visit) your brick-and-mortar location. Are you making a positive first impression? Are you helping shoppers find what they need and want? Are you presenting the same welcoming, professional environment online that your customers experience in-store? Using our scorecard, you can answer these questions and identify opportunities for improvement on your website and your supporting digital marketing efforts.

What You’ll Learn (and why it matters)

The SmartEtailing Website Scorecard covers seven focus areas, from website setup to SEO best practices to analytics tracking. Within each focus area, we suggest three actionable tasks. If you can already check off each item, that’s fantastic. If not, checking off a few more of these boxes can improve your customers’ online experience, making them more likely to revisit you, online or in person.

Website Setup

When you were in the early days of opening your bike shop, you understood the importance of laying the proper foundation for your business. You built out your cash wrap, plugged in your POS, and placed fixtures and Slatwall. The same foundational planning should be applied to your website. Review the basics first and foremost:

• Is your inventory online?
• Can a customer add a product to his or her shopping cart?
• Are your shipping and in-store pickup options configured?

Before you start driving traffic through your virtual front door, you must review these settings, and others are covered on the scorecard to avoid confusing or inconsistent shopping experiences.

Website Merchandising

Once you have the foundational settings checked off, you can focus on your website’s content and design aspects. Site merchandising is very similar to in-store merchandising—you want to display relevant products and services in a compelling, easy to understand presentation.

You should regularly refresh your homepage, just as you update your in-store displays so that your website is seasonally appropriate and aligned with what’s happening in-store:

• Feature new arrivals, including bikes, apparel, and accessories
• Highlight service specials, including seasonal tune-up deals or financing offers
• Promote current sales, including spring, summer and holiday events

Whatever you’re displaying, be sure to link your homepage content to appropriate catalog pages or informative landing pages to help your customers take the next action.

Website Promotion

You’ve made it through the setup and merchandising checklists; now, it’s time to drive visitors to your website.

There are many ways to help potential customers find you, including organic or paid placement in online search, proactive email marketing campaigns, and engaging social content. Our scorecard covers several promotional best practices:

• Settings to review on-site for improved search engine optimization
• Suggested email marketing frequency for improved engagement
• Recommendations for levering social posts to encourage website traffic

Evaluating the efficacy of your promotional efforts is critical as well. Our scorecard includes analytics tips to ensure that you’re tracking and utilizing relevant data from your website.

Get Your Scorecard

Are you ready to get started on your website evaluation? Whether or not you have a SmartEtailing website, our scorecard provides you with valuable and actionable information to make the most of your online presence. Get yours today, start your review, and know that we’re here to help with your website and marketing needs.

This post was authored by Ryan Atkinson, President and Co-Owner of SmartEtailing. SmartEtailing provides website, marketing, and data solutions to help independent bicycle retailers compete in an evolving retail world.

The NBDA has been here since 1946, representing and empowering specialty bicycle dealers in the United States through education, communications, research, advocacy, member discount programs, and promotional opportunities. As shops are facing never-before-seen circumstances, these resources offer a lifeline. Together, we will weather this. We at the NBDA will not waver in our commitment to serving our members even during this challenging time—but we need your support.

Now is the time to become a member as we join together to make one another stronger. Whether you’re a retailer or an industry partner, your membership in the NBDA is one of the best investments you’ll make this year. 

Learn more about the benefits of being a member and join now.

The post How Does Your Website Stack Up? appeared first on National Bicycle Dealers Association.

Words by Ryan Atkinson

For years now, brick-and-mortar retailers have stood by, wringing their hands as their customers steadily shifted their spending to the online channel. But all is not lost for specialty bicycle retailers; if they put the effort into providing their customers an online shopping option, they stand to not only maintain local market share but maybe even grow it.

In fact, current research indicates that a growing number of consumers are opting to shop online and pick up their purchases in-store.

In a survey conducted in August 2016 by Internet Retailer, 57% of respondents reported having made a purchase online that they picked up in-store. The most common two reasons for their choice? To avoid shipping charges, and for convenience.

A similar survey conducted in late 2016 by iVend Retail also reported that 57.5% of the 1,000 shoppers polled use the omnichannel shopping service of buying online and picking up in-store.

This trend makes sense when compared to the results of a BigCommerce study of the top three factors influencing a purchase decision. In order of importance, the top influences were price, shipping cost/speed, and discount offers.

So it makes sense that the option to shop online and pick up at a local store combines the always-touted convenience of shopping online with the gratification of collecting a purchase quickly. Why wait days for shipping when an in-stock item could be in-hand in just a few hours? Add to that the option of saving on shipping, and many consumers count that as a serious win.

Now, aside from appealing to more consumers, are there additional benefits to retailers taking advantage of the buy-online-pick-up-in-store trend?

Major retailer J.C. Penney thinks so. After seeing a big jump in the share of their online orders that were picked up from a local store, executives at the chain reported that 40% of those online shoppers make additional purchases while visiting the physical local store to pick up their initial purchase. When customers visit J.C. Penney to pick up their orders, these customers shop at the store and buy more items.

If this trend carries over to the cycling industry, it could have a major impact on your bottom line. You can capture a portion of online buying in your market and, further, capture a greater share of customer spending by increasing transaction sizes when customers see your physical selection and gain exposure to your trained sales team.

Your product catalog should be the star of that show. By allowing consumers to filter products by in-stock merchandise, you’re enabling those shoppers to fulfill their desire for efficient and convenient shopping. Their instant education on what merchandise is available in their local bike shop allows them to shop online in the comfort of their home or office knowing that their purchase will be available to them shortly.

In the majority of cases, sales growth will still come from in-store purchasing. But, if you can capture online sales as well, that’s a win—especially when those orders are for in-store pickup.

Ryan Atkinson is President and Co-Owner of SmartEtailing, which provides website, marketing, and data solutions to help independent bicycle retailers compete in an evolving retail world.

The NBDA has been here since 1946, representing and empowering specialty bicycle dealers in the United States through education, communications, research, advocacy, member discount programs, and promotional opportunities. As shops are facing never-before-seen circumstances, these resources offer a lifeline. Together, we will weather this. We at the NBDA will not waver in our commitment to serving our members even during this challenging time—but we need your support.

Now is the time to become a member as we join together to make one another stronger. Whether you’re a retailer or an industry partner, your membership in the NBDA is one of the best investments you’ll make this year. 

Learn more about the benefits of being a member and join now.

The post Open Your Doors to Online Shoppers appeared first on National Bicycle Dealers Association.