An Effort to Keep Brick and Mortar Around
Even with all the fantastic return policies found at motorcycle gear retailers, some folks are hesitant to buy something they have not yet tried on. Cycle Gear wants to change that. According to Adventure Rider, the company has now rolled out online gear reservations, which will make it easy for people to come into the store to try on a specific piece of gear they’re interested in.
Here’s how it works. You browse for a product online. You find what you want. You check to make sure it’s at the Cycle Gear store near you, and then you make a reservation for it. Then you can go into the store at your leisure to try it on. From there, you can decide to buy or leave it on the shelf.
The tactic is designed to get people to visit the store and actually make the purchase there. Many people go into a store to try something on and then they purchase the gear online and usually at a discount. This is a step to try to eliminate that from happening.
Keeping Gear There for You
Another thing it does is keep the gear there so that people know it will be there for them to try on when they come to the store. It sucks to show up at a store to try on a piece of gear only to find out that it has sold while you were on your way. The reservation keeps the gear in the store so you can come in and try it on.
Obviously, this isn’t a perfect solution for Cycle Gear, but it’s a step in the right direction to keep the company’s brick and mortar locations in place. It’s an integration of the online experience and the brick and mortar stores that makes sense.
While I have no problem sending a piece of gear back to a retailer if it doesn’t fit, I do like being able to try things on before I buy. There’s a Cycle Gear near me, so maybe I’ll give this a shot and see how it goes.
Honestly, this is great. I really prefer purchasing helmets, boots and similar high-dollar fitted items after examining them in person. I want to be able to see and feel the differences between products. I want to try on several comparable items to find the best fit. I appreciate the personal attention from the folks at my local Cycle Gear. I will make use of this service when it comes time to get the next pair of boots.
Thing is I’ve never been in a cycle gear that had anything high end in stock. It’s always low end and maybe some mid tier items. It’s backwards in a sense- the low end stuff you’re like ehh whatever I’ll just order that I don’t need to go try it on, and for the high end stuff you want to try it on but it’s not actually there. If cycle gear is making an effort to change that it’d be awesome.
Great point, Benjamin. Yeah, they’d definitely have to have the right gear in store.