7 Tips for Boosting Bike Sales in Your Online Store

The global bike market is booming, with online sales expected to reach $135 billion by 2025. This growth is driven by several factors, including the increasing popularity of cycling for fitness and recreation, the rising awareness of the environmental benefits of cycling, and the growing availability of e-bikes. As the demand for bikes continues to grow, so does the opportunity for online bike retailers to boost online bike shop sales. By using Google Ads, bike retailers can reach a wider audience of potential customers and drive more traffic to their online stores. In this article, we will share seven tips for boosting bike sales in your online store using Google Ads. These tips will help you optimize your campaigns for maximum performance and achieve your sales goals.

Table of Contents:

1. The Current State of the Online Bike Market and Its Challenges
   • Increasing competition
   • Complex product differentiation
   • Limited customer engagement
   • Building brand awareness and trust
2. 7 Effective Strategies for Boosting Online Bike Shop Sales
3. Conclusion

The Current State of the Online Bike Market and Its Challenges

The online bike market has witnessed significant growth in recent years, with more and more consumers turning to the internet for their cycling needs. The convenience of online shopping, coupled with the wide range of options and competitive pricing, has made it an attractive avenue for both bike enthusiasts and casual riders alike. However, despite its flourishing nature, the online bike market also presents unique challenges regarding advertising and promotion.

Grand View Research: North America Bicycle Market

1. Increasing competition

The online bike market has become increasingly competitive, with numerous vendors and retailers vying for customers’ attention. This surge in competition makes businesses adopt innovative strategies to stand out from the crowd. Merely having a visually appealing website and a great selection of bikes may not be enough to drive online bike shop sales. Finding effective ways to promote your online store and differentiate yourself from competitors is vital to succeed in this competitive landscape.

2. Complex product differentiation

Bicycles come in various types, styles, and sizes, each catering to a specific market segment. Communicating the unique selling points of different bike models and showcasing their features and benefits can be challenging online. Unlike in physical stores, where customers can touch and test the bikes, online shoppers rely heavily on product descriptions, images, and reviews. Ensuring accurate and detailed product information, accompanied by high-quality visuals, is crucial to assist potential buyers in making informed decisions.

3. Limited customer engagement

One of the significant challenges of the online bike market is the limited opportunity for direct customer engagement. Unlike in brick-and-mortar stores, where salespersons can interact with customers, address their queries, and provide personalized recommendations, online shoppers often lack the same level of support. This absence of in-person assistance can hinder the customer’s buying journey and make establishing trust and confidence in the online store difficult. Overcoming this challenge requires implementing strategies to engage customers effectively, such as offering live chat support, comprehensive FAQs, and detailed product reviews.

4. Building brand awareness and trust

Customers are more likely to purchase from brands they recognize and trust, making it essential for online bike retailers to invest in building a strong brand presence. This includes employing effective digital marketing strategies, leveraging social media platforms, collaborating with influencers, and seeking positive customer reviews and testimonials. Building a reputable brand image takes time and effort, but it is crucial for long-term success in the online bike market.

7 Effective Strategies for Boosting Online Bike Shop Sales

1. Focus on what brings you the most revenue. The average percentage of revenue brought by shopping networks for eCommerce is more than 60%; that’s why you need to put more effort in optimizing your Performance Max (i.e., Shopping) campaigns. One of the most important things in improving your performance in shopping is the Merchant Center. You can improve numerous things there – title optimization, sale price attribute, primary image testing, etc. You can find more information about improving your merchant center in our article.
2. Bid on your branded terms. Bidding on your branded terms helps you maintain a competitive edge. Even if competitors are not directly bidding on your brand, they might try to target users who are searching for your brand name by bidding on related terms. By having your own branded ads, you can ensure that users see your messaging first, increasing the likelihood of them choosing your brand over competitors.
3. Bid on your competitor’s terms. Bidding on your competitors’ terms enables you to target a highly relevant audience. Users searching for your competitors’ brand names or products are already interested in the type of products or services you offer. By placing your ads in front of these users, you have the opportunity to divert their attention and present your brand as a viable alternative.
4. Use Video and Discovery campaigns in a mix to grow your brand awareness. Using video and discovery campaigns in a mix is an effective strategy for growing brand awareness. These two campaign types offer unique advantages and can complement each other to create a comprehensive brand promotion strategy. Below is an example of when we have spent more on Video + Discovery and got more volume from branded terms:
5. Segment your Performance Max campaigns by best-performing products and worst-performing products. By segmenting campaigns based on product performance, advertisers can allocate their budget more efficiently. They can allocate a larger portion of the budget to the best-performing products that generate a higher return on investment and allocate a smaller budget to the underperforming products. This ensures that resources are focused on products that have a higher potential for success, maximizing the overall campaign performance. Also, it helps to identify new top-performing products as the Google algorithm prefers to push the highest-performing products historically and leaves fewer impressions for other products.
6. Use broad match keywords combined with Smart bidding strategies. Smart bidding strategies, such as Target CPA (Cost per Acquisition) or Target ROAS (Return on Ad Spend), leverage machine learning algorithms to optimize your bids based on historical data and real-time signals. By combining broad-match keywords with smart bidding, you allow the system to learn and adapt to the performance of different search queries. This automated bidding approach optimizes your bids to maximize conversions or achieve a specific return on ad spend goal while considering the performance and value of different search queries.
7. Use seasonality bid adjustments to increase the volume fast. Seasonality bid adjustments allow allocating budget more efficiently. By adjusting bids based on seasonal trends, you can focus resources on periods with higher potential for conversions or sales. We suggest using this feature only when you are sure the conversion rates are going up (when you have a big sale or according to the trends, you expect the demand to increase). Here is an example of using seasonality bid adjustment on Black Friday:

Conclusion

Boosting sales in the competitive online bike market can be a challenging goal. However, with the implementation of the seven tips, you are well-equipped to enhance your online presence, attract more customers, and drive sustainable growth to your online bike shop. If you need assistance in implementing these tips or require additional guidance, we are here to help. Our team of experts is experienced in digital marketing for bike retailers and can provide valuable insights, personalized strategies, and hands-on support to maximize your online sales potential. Don’t hesitate to reach out to us!