Munich In the pandemic, many people rediscovered cycling during the lockdowns. The industry experienced a boom – also thanks to the high demand for e-bikes. “The market has reached a new level and will continue to grow even after Corona,” says Andrés Martin-Birner, head of the online retailer Bike24, which has been listed on the stock exchange since the summer.
The bicycle industry will continue to professionalize – and consolidate. There had been a number of major acquisitions in the past few months.
More than five million bicycles and e-bikes were sold in Germany last year – 17 percent more than in the previous year. Sales including accessories reached ten billion euros. “The trend towards bicycles has arrived in society at large,” says Martin-Birner.
In the first half of 2021, sales fell by 14 percent to 2.75 million bikes sold. But that was due to the lack of availability of bicycles. Customers often have to wait months for new models and components. The production of bicycles in Germany rose slightly to 1.4 million units in the first six months.
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Many large cities geared their infrastructure more towards bicycles. This created a lively scene – with customers who are often willing to spend a lot of money on bikes, clothing and accessories.
The trend was also confirmed by the new Bicycle Monitor 2021, which Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer presented when he left. According to this, around 16 million people in Germany are currently thinking about buying a bicycle.
In addition, 41 percent of 14 to 69 year olds want to cycle more often in the future. “For more and more people, the bicycle is the mode of transport of choice, and not just during the pandemic,” said Scheuer.
The industry association ZIV is also optimistic: “The popularity of e-bikes has been growing dynamically for years and has now reached all model groups.” The stock increases by more than a million bikes with electric motors every year.
Expand logistics abroad
Martin-Birner recognized the potential of the industry earlier than others. Almost 20 years ago he founded the Bike24 online shop in Dresden together with Lars Witt. So far he has mainly sold spare parts and accessories here, but the proportion of complete bikes is growing rapidly. In the past three years, the company has grown by an average of 30 percent each time to almost 200 million euros in sales.
Despite the shortage of parts, Bike24 was able to increase sales in the first nine months of this year by 30 percent to 192 million euros. Bike24 would have been able to sell even more without the shortages. But the dealer benefited from its very wide range of products. If a supplier’s component was sold out, he was usually able to offer the customer alternatives.
The company’s operating result (Ebitda), which now has around 800,000 customers, increased by 8.4 percent to 18.8 million euros from January to September.
“We want to grow by a double-digit percentage in the coming years”, announced Martin-Birner. The market will grow in the mid-single-digit range on average. But Bike24 wants to gain market share and conquer new foreign markets.
The group will soon open a new warehouse in Barcelona. “If you want to play at the front, you have to deliver in 24 to 48 hours today,” says Martin-Birner. Therefore Bike24 is continuously expanding the infrastructure abroad. The aim is to become the leading online bicycle retailer on the continent.
Bike24 share on the rise
The foreign markets offer a lot of potential. According to a study by the European bicycle associations, sales in Europe could increase by almost half to 30 million bicycles sold by 2030. With the higher installed base, the market for clothing and accessories will automatically grow with it, says Martin-Birner.
You see it similarly with the bag specialist Ortlieb, for example. “We had to allocate the goods and set the retailers weekly and monthly limits for their orders,” says sales manager Martin Esslinger. This year sales rose again in double digits, and the orders for the coming spring are, according to the company, 30 percent above those of 2021.
The online retailer Bike Components, one of Bike24’s main competitors, recently expanded its business model: In future, the parts will not only be offered to private customers, but also to business customers on a new professional portal. The aim is to enable bicycle dealers to offer their customers parts quickly. Bike Components recently had sales of around 108 million euros.
Since the bicycle industry outgrew its niche, it has also moved more into the focus of investors. When it went public, Bike 24 was valued at 660 million euros. Since then, the rate has risen from 15 to 19 euros.
Other companies in the industry also attracted investors. According to reports, the investment company GBL took over the German bicycle manufacturer Canyon, which relies heavily on internet sales, to take over EUR 800 million.
Most recently, the Dutch company Pon Holdings (Gazelle, Urban Arrow) bought the bicycle subsidiary of the Canadian conglomerate Dorel Industries for 700 million euros. Pon Holdings thus secured brands such as Cannondale and Schwinn and doubled sales in the bicycle business to around 2.3 billion euros.
Corona, bicycle boom and IPO: “It was a crazy year,” said Martin-Birner. The only difference was that he almost never got around to cycling in this turbulent year.
More: The online retailer Bike Components helps local bicycle dealers.