Competitor Digital Snapshot Report™ Cycling Retailers Q1 2024

Introduction

This report is a competitive digital analysis of 5 brands in the Canadian cycling retailer space.

We’ll highlight key metrics for each competitor across the digital landscape, then make a comparison to determine which brands are winning and lagging in each area.

Once the winners are determined, we’ll dig into specifics on why they’re winning. This will help us surface actionable insights.

Finally, we’ll highlight suggestions for further research that RightMetric could provide to uncover more specific opportunities to fuel digital growth for your brand.

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Key Takeaways: Recommended Actions

In this section we summarize the most important key takeaways and actionable recommendations from the Competitor Snapshot Report™.

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Key Takeaways

Primeau Velo spent significantly more on paid search ($956K), while the rest of the competitive set spent an average of $106K, indicating a white space opportunity.

• Recommendations
  (i) Allocate more ad spend to paid search; there is little competition in this space. 
  (ii) Identify the geographic locations of your target demographic and utilize location-based targeting in your paid ads to reach your audience where they are.(iii) Promote free shipping, reputable brands, cost-saving offers, and expert customer service to set your shop apart in your ads.
  (iv) Bid on competitors' branded terms to divert search interest to your offerings.

Steed Cycles (+33%) & Bicycles Quilicot (+20%) saw the most significant YoY organic search traffic growth.

• Recommendations
  (i) Develop a dedicated e-bike landing page to capitalize on the growing interest in e-bikes. Bicycles Quilicot's e-bike product page attracts 5% of their organic traffic. 
  (ii) Implement a robust SEO strategy tailored to each product page, with a particular focus on the most popular items. 65% of Steed Cycle's organic search traffic is driven by their product pages. 

Advertising spends are highest during the summer months (May to August). 

80% of the competitive set’s ad budget went to Facebook.

• Recommendations
  (i) Make ads that are seasonally relevant. During off-seasons, capitalize on popular activities for bikers during colder months such as indoor cycling.
  (ii) Focus on advertising on less traditional platforms such as YouTube, Display, or TikTok since your competitors focus 80% of their efforts on Facebook. 
  (iii) Experiment with carousel ads to showcase a wide range of bicycles types and the latest cycling apparel. 

All brands have not generated significant traffic from referrals and email marketing, indicating an untapped opportunity in this medium.

• Recommendations
  (i) Identify and collaborate with influential websites and forums in the biking community to increase referrals.
  (ii) Offer incentives like exclusive content or discounts to gain email subscribers.
  (iii) Utilize giveaways to increase your email list following.

Cycling retailers focus on targeting males from an older audience.

• Recommendations
  (i) There’s space to be the bicycle shop brand for the Gen Z audience (18-24 year olds). Focus on this audience. 
  (ii) There is a white space opportunity for the female audience. 78% of the customer base for competitors is male. Connect with this group by creating content and messaging that aligns with their interests, ensuring inclusivity and support in communications to attract and integrate new cyclists into your audience base. 

Top performing content for Primeau Velo and The Bike Shop consisted of giveaway posts.

• Recommendations
  (i) Showcase newly stocked bikes in short 5-minute videos that not only display the bikes in action but also provide honest reviews like Steed Cycles.
  (ii) Create a complimentary post to giveaway a new bicycle to the audience.

All brands have not generated significant traffic from referrals and email marketing, indicating an untapped opportunity in this medium.

• Recommendations
  (i) Identify and collaborate with influential websites and forums in the biking community to increase referrals.
  (ii) Offer incentives like exclusive content or discounts to gain email subscribers.
  (iii) Utilize giveaways to increase your email list following.

Cycling retailers focus on targeting males from an older audience.

• Recommendations
  (i) There’s space to be the bicycle shop brand for the Gen Z audience (18-24 year olds). Focus on this audience. 
  (ii) There is a white space opportunity for the female audience. 78% of the customer base for competitors is male. Connect with this group by creating content and messaging that aligns with their interests, ensuring inclusivity and support in communications to attract and integrate new cyclists into your audience base. 

Organic social is a relatively untapped channel in the cycling retailer space. Jenson USA has a total audience size of 116K and all other competitors have less than 30K followers.

• Recommendations
  (i) Start an educational TikTok account about all-things bike related. Canadian ski & board retailer Kunstadt Sports has grown to 88K followers with consistent educational content.
  (ii) Partner with influencers for viral impact. Jenson USA saw a spike in total follower growth in September 2023 due to a viral video where they showcased POV bike footage featuring YouTuber, Dale Stone 

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Personas & Messaging Whitespace

There is a whitespace to build messaging for cycling as a  generational activity for women. 

The rise of older female bikers (like North Shore Betty) helps create a space for women to cycle together. People between the ages of 18-24, 35-44 and 65+ are targeted the least amongst competitors.   

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Traffic

When analyzing competitor traffic, we look for growth spikes. 

Once we detect a brand significantly outpacing competitors’ growth, that’s our clue to dig into all that brand’s digital activities to determine which strategies and tactics fuelled the growth. Then distill that into repeatable learnings for you to apply to your brand.

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Traffic Growth

Primeau Velo leads in traffic volume while Steed Cycles and The Bike Shop are seeing significant growth.

Primeau Velo is the clear winner from this competitive set in terms of traffic volume, with 3.2M visits in the past 12 months. However, Steed Cycles saw the largest growth. They’ve grown traffic by +79% over the past twelve months, increasing from 582K to 1M yearly visits.

The Bike Shop follows with the third-highest traffic at 1.3M visits in the past 12 months. 

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Seasonal Trends

Experiment with larger marketing initiatives during off-season periods since competitors prioritize the warmer months.

Competitor website traffic is aligned with the cycling season and saw the most traffic from June to August over the past two years. As a whole, the competitive set naturally sees elevated website traffic during the Spring and Summer months, with increases starting from March and decreases starting from August.

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Digital Advertising

When analyzing advertising data, we look at absolute spend volumes to identify winners. Then, we narrow down to each brand and examine spikes in advertising spend and social traffic.

Once we identify which brands are investing significantly in advertising, we look at which platforms they are focusing their efforts on and the top-performing creatives on each platform. Analyzing top-performing creatives allow us to extract effective advertising tactics that are being utilized by your competitors.  

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Advertising Spend

Diversify your advertising spend, competitors are focusing strictly on Facebook and Instagram.

From December 2021 to December 2023, Primeau Velo spent the most at $481K, followed closely by  Steed Cycles at $442K. Bicycles Quilicot and The Bike Shop spent $206K and $101K, respectively. Jenson USA only spent $1.5K on YouTube. 

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Primeau Velo, Steed Cycles, Bicycles Quilicot, and The Bike Shop, allocated an average of 80% of its budget to Facebook.

Jenson USA focused solely on YouTube. 

• ‍There is a white space opportunity to explore spending on less traditional platforms such as  YouTube, Display, or TikTok since your competitors mainly focus on Facebook. 

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Seasonal Trends

All brands have higher advertising spends in the warmer months and lower spends in the colder months, confirming the seasonal nature of the cycling retailer market.

Bicycle shop brands boosted ad spending in May to August, led by Primeau Velo. November to February sees a market-wide ad spend drop. 

Spending patterns among brands are more variable, with multiple peaks throughout the year, indicating a strategy to maintain a presence across multiple seasons or to capitalize on specific events or sales periods.

• Allocate more ad spend during the peak summer months of May to August when consumer interest is highest. 
  Explore targeted ad campaigns during the off-peak season to maintain brand presence. Engage potential customers who may be planning future purchases or want to start riding indoors.

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Advertising Creative

Maximize post-holiday sales with strategic discounting.

Primeau Velo’s ad features a significant post-holiday discount offer with an engaging image of a cyclist, emphasizing adventure and value.

• Create timely post-holiday discount offers to continue leveraging the spending mentality of consumers during the holiday seasons.

Spend $2.3K | Impressions 619K | CPM $3.7

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Capitalize on indoor training trends during off-seasons.

Primeau Velo’s ad offers discounts on bike trainers, appealing to cyclists for indoor training with a clear sale message and product image.

• ‍Time promotions with seasonal trends such as indoor training gear.

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Enhance sales with online discounts.

Steed Cycles promotes a sale with up to 30% off various cycling products, adding the lure of free shipping. Their advertising strategy includes the message "hidden gems for every cyclist," aiming to broaden their audience reach.

• ‍Focus on savings and product excitement by  combining the thrill of finding deals with the practical benefit of discounts.

Spend $3.7K | Impressions 952K | CPM $3.9

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Create product specific sales.

Steed Cycles advertises a bike tire sale with up to 45% off, reinforced by an image of a cyclist in action.

• ‍Pair product-specific deals with aspirational imagery and offer clear benefits like free shipping to increase sales.

Spend $3.3K | Impressions 861K | CPM $3.8

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Elevate cycling apparel sales with style.

Bicycles Quilicot’s ad features stylish Rapha and POC cycling jerseys with a call-to-action to shop now for the season.

• ‍Entice shoppers to upgrade their gear for the season by focusing on this season's newest and most stylish cycling apparel. 

Spend $3K | Impressions 773K | CPM $3.9

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Showcase a wide range of bicycles.

Bicycles Quilicot’s ad displays diverse bike models, appealing to various cyclists with a prompt to shop their selection.

• ‍Highlight a variety of popular bike styles in an ad to attract cyclists of all ranges.

Spend $1.8K | Impressions 472K | CPM $3.8

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Promote indoor cycling gear during winter.

The Bike Shop’s ad targets cyclists looking to maintain their training indoors, offering winter-ready bikes, apparel, and gear from leading brands like Trek & Fox.

• ‍Make seasonally relevant ads and have one clear focus.
  Capitalize on popular activities for bikers during colder months such as indoor cycling.

Spend $5.9K | Impressions 1.4M | CPM $4.2

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Promote the latest advanced bike tech.

The Bike Shop’s ad targets cyclists looking to upgrade their bikes with the latest in wireless gear-shifting technology.

• ‍Focus on new tech benefits in ads; consider adding demonstration videos to boost engagement.

Spend $5.8K | Impressions 1.3M | CPM $4.5

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Paid Search Spend 

There’s an opportunity to compete on Paid Search. Primeau Velo is the only competitor spending significantly. 

Primeau Velo is spending the most on paid search, with a total spend of $950K from January 2022 to December 2023.  

Bicycles Quilicot is spending $146K. The Bike Shop and Steed Cycles spent $123K and $122K respectively, while Jenson USA only spent $22K on this platform. 

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Paid Search Traffic

Primeau Velo’s search strategy translated into 464K in Paid Search traffic, maintaining them as a leader in this department. 

Bicycles Quilicot spent +7.5% more than The Bike Shop but generated -2% less traffic. 

Bicycles Quilicot spent $146K on Paid Search traffic, roughly $6.3 CPC, while The Bike Shop spent $135K in Paid Search traffic, roughly $5.6 CPC.  

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Paid Search Spend

Incorporate targeted keywords related to specific bicycle models, components, and accessories into your Paid Search strategy to capture relevant traffic. 

For instance, product terms like "wahoo kickr core" are attracting an average of 250 searches per month in Canada. Average keyword traffic for the competitive set is 48K per month.

• Competitors are allocating substantial ad budgets to their own branded keywords. There is an opportunity to bid on competitors' branded terms, potentially diverting their search interest to your offerings.

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Paid Search Creatives: Primeau Velo

Top paid search ads for Primeau Velo used the following tactics:

• Value Highlight: Ads showcase 24/7 availability and the widest inventory, directly stating what customers gain.
• Financial Incentives: Financing options and free delivery offers address cost concerns.
• Action-Oriented: Directing to a store finder page effectively nudges customers from interest to action.

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Paid Search Creatives: Bicycles Quilicot

Top paid search ads for Bicycles Quilicot used the following tactics:

• Multi-Channel Shopping: Promotes both online and in-store shopping, enhancing accessibility.
• Financial Perks: Free shipping and 0% financing options address customer cost concerns.
• Brand Trust & Speed: Emphasizes reputable brand offerings with fast delivery, appealing to quality and convenience seekers.

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Paid Search Creatives: The Bike Shop

Top paid search ads for The Bike Shop used the following tactics:

• Cost Conscious: Highlights cost-saving offers like free shipping and returns, appealing to cost-conscious shoppers.
• Comprehensive Service: Promotes the shop as a complete solution for biking needs, implying convenience.
• Service Expertise: Highlights expert customer service, building trust in the brand's knowledge and support.

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Paid Search Creatives: Steed Cycles

Top paid search ads for Steed Cycles used the following tactics:

• ‍5 Star Quality: Highlights extensive, high-rated product offerings to attract customers.
• ‍Local Appeal: Emphasizes the shop's local presence to connect with nearby customers.

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Referrals

Analyze competitor referral traffic to identify the key drivers behind their visits and uncover potential opportunities. 

Identify the press and media entities that have the most influence over your target audience, and pinpoint the optimal websites for affiliate marketing partnerships and display ad placements. 

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Optimize referrals and make them part of your strategy, competitors are not focusing here as much.

Referrals account for just 3% of the total marketing traffic for the competitive set. Primeau Velo stands out, drawing 110K visits from December 2021 to December 2023,  while the rest of the competitive set generated an average of 40K visits.

Top referring websites include: cube-bikes.ca (18%), www.vitalmtb.com (5%), and electricbikereview.com (4%).

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Participate in community bike review forums, sponsor content on leading bike blogs, & aim to be featured as an official seller on popular bike brand websites for increased visibility.

Referral Tactics

• Advertise on bike forums and engage in review threads to reach engaged cycling audiences.

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Referral Tactics

• Partner with brands on your website to be listed as an official seller, enhancing credibility and driving traffic.

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Organic Search

As we dissect organic search data, we keep an eye on spikes in competitor traffic and keyword trends.

When a brand outperforms others in organic search, we delve into its best-performing web pages to understand what captivates the audience. By identifying the most impactful keywords, we can decode prevailing content themes and formats, leading us to web content opportunities that truly resonate with the audience.

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Organic Traffic

Primeau Velo is leading the pack in total Organic Search traffic.

Steed Cycles, Bicycles Quilicot, and Primeau Velo are the only brands seeing growth in Organic Search. Steed Cycles saw the most significant growth of +33% YoY. 

Jenson USA and The Bike Shop are seeing decreasing organic traffic YoY, with a decrease in traffic at -43% and -5%, respectively. 

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Organic Traffic Growth

Bicycles Quilicot focuses on using branded keywords that include their physical store locations.

Bicycles Quilicot’s organic search traffic mostly comes from branded keywords. 

A few keywords they have ranked for include:

Bicycles Quilicot's e-bike product page attracts 5% of its organic traffic, signalling strong consumer interest in e-bikes.

(i) Capitalize on this interest by developing a dedicated e-bike landing page designed to convert visitors into customers. 

(ii) Provide comprehensive guides and information to educate consumers about this relatively new product category.

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Enhance SEO by focusing on branded keywords and developing location-based non-branded keywords to target audiences in specific locations.

Steed Cycle’s organic search traffic all comes from branded and non-branded keywords. 

A few keywords they have ranked for include:

65% of Steed Cycle's organic search traffic is driven by their product pages, with notable contributors being this bike lock (16%), bike fender (13%), and bike frame (13%). 

Implement a robust SEO strategy tailored to each product page, with a particular focus on the most popular items. 

Enhancing SEO on these pages can substantially increase visibility and drive more organic traffic to your website.

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Social Media

Analyzing competitors' social metrics reveals untapped platforms with high audience engagement and minimal competition. 

It helps identify the platforms that drive web traffic and indicates where to focus your social strategy for maximum reach, engagement, and follower growth. By benchmarking competitors' social media efforts and performance across platforms, you can identify top-performing areas and gain insights to enhance your own social strategy.

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Followers

Organic social is a relatively untapped channel in the cycling retailer space.

Jenson USA is the dominant player in the competitive set with a social media following of 116K, which is 3.5x more than the second-largest brand, Bicycles Quilicot, with 26K followers. 

Bicycles Quilicot, Primeau Velo, Steed Cycles, and The Bike Shop average at about 17K followers across channels.

• ‍Start an educational TikTok account about all-things bike related. Canadian ski & board retailer Kunstadt Sports has grown to 88K followers with consistent educational content.
  Jenson USA and Bicycles Quilicot are the only brands that are harnessing the power of these platforms. 

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Follower Growth: Jenson USA

Jenson USA saw a 95% YoY growth from December 2021 to December 2023, primarily driven by their presence on Facebook.

Over the past two years, Jenson USA amassed a total of 28K new followers, with Facebook accounting for 17K new followers, Instagram contributing 6K, and YouTube adding 5K to the overall increase.

Jenson USA saw a spike in total follower growth in September 2023 (+8K new followers). Their Facebook saw the largest growth of +7.8K new followers, thanks to two viral videos that received 2.3M and 1.1M views. 

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Follower Growth

Bicycles Quilicot saw the second-highest growth with an increase of 78% in total followers. 

The Bike Shop (+1.3K new followers) and Bicycles Quilicot (+2.9K new followers) experienced two major growth months on Instagram in December 2021 and September 2023, respectively.

The Bike Shop hosted a giveaway to win a trainer bike. Bicycles Quilicot partnered with brands Muc-Off and EVOC to host giveaways.

• To boost your total follower count, consider organizing giveaways. 
• Collaborate with bicycle gear brands for these events to leverage their existing audience and maximize your campaign's reach.

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Social Traffic

Keep your social media as a top-of-funnel awareness strategy.

All brands see less than 10% of website traffic come from socials. Most brands do not see social media as a top driver directly to the site but rather a way to get people thinking about their products. 

Facebook, YouTube, and Reddit are the top drivers of traffic to web pages. Facebook traffic can be attributed to digital ads and posts by Primeau Velo, Steed Cycles, Bicycles Quilicot, and The Bike Shop. Jenson USA, in particular, saw high traffic from Reddit. One of the top posts mentioning the brand was a negative customer review that questioned their website’s legitimacy & customer service quality

• ‍A social media approach for the cycling retailer industry should focus more on frequency and getting prospects to see your brand often so that it’s top of mind.

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Video Views

Fill the void in the lack of competition on TikTok.

Jenson USA is significantly leading the pack amongst competitors with 14M views, followed by Bicycles Quilicot at 445K views. 

There is an opportunity to tap into audiences on TikTok, only Jenson USA and Bicycles Quilicot are active on this platform.

• ‍Partner with local bike creators and ensure the content feels natural and authentic, in line with what the TikTok audience prefers, rather than making it seem like a traditional ad.

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Content & Messaging

By analyzing the competitors' content, we can discover unique content opportunities, pinpoint successful production elements and techniques for replication, and identify underperforming themes to sidestep. 

This will guide an effective content strategy for the biking audience.

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Partner with influencers for viral impact.

Jenson USA maximizes viral impact through authentic content. Their videos capture mountain bikers on a challenging course and combine skilled performances with unique filming techniques. One video offers an immersive first-person view, while another has the spontaneity of a smartphone recording. They also partner with mountain biking influencer Dale Stone for first-person shots, further enhancing the authenticity and appeal of their content.

2.3M Views

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1.1M Views

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Compliment educational videos with promotional ones.

Bicycles Quilicot produced detailed educational content that clarifies distinctions within the mountain biking segment with their nine-minute guide. Complementing this with promotional content, like their successful showcase of a new high-performance gravel bike, can effectively engage their audience while highlighting the latest inventory.

105K Views

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81K Views

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Showcase and review new bikes.

Steed Cycles’ most successful videos focus on showcasing newly stocked bikes. These approximately 5-minute segments not only display the bikes in action but also provide honest reviews, covering ride impressions, frame features, and specifications, effectively engaging their audience.

32K Views

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29K Views

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Boost engagement with giveaways & cycling news.

Primeau Velo’s most engaging posts include a Shokz headphone giveaway and Primeau Velo's representation at the World Cycling Championships. This suggests an opportunity for the brand to become a go-to source for bike competition news within the local community.

1.9K Eng.

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906 Eng.

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Engage with giveaways & showcase custom builds.

The Bike Shop’s most successful content includes a trainer bike giveaway and a feature on a customer's custom bike build, demonstrating the effectiveness of promotional events and personalized customer stories in engaging their audience.

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