Insights from the 2022 Cycle of Influence Summit

The inaugural Cycle of Influence Summit (COI) was held earlier this month in Bentonville AR. Promoted as a gathering of cycling and outdoor industry’s best business minds who will network, seek progress, and formulate success the show delivered on the promises of engaging panel discussions and unique and intimate networking opportunities.

In addition to a deep agenda with focused discussions on varying topics, the Summit also offered two off-site visits–The attendees visited North Western Arkansas Community College which offers an impressive mechanics certification course and also Allied Cycles for a factory tour of their carbon bike building facility. You can read more about this year’s agenda topics on the website: www.cycleofinfluence.com.

The NBDA was happy to have longtime Board Member Chad Pickard, Owner of Spoke N Sport, in attendance at the event. President Heather Mason had a chance to connect with Chad post event for some insight on the 2022 event and touch on a few retailer takeaways. Read the interview here:

Chad, thank you so much for attending the event. I am anxious to learn your thoughts on the show and overall messaging?

The overarching theme of the week from my perspective: There are people that want to bike out there, we need to meet them where they are and bring them into cycling. With DEI initiatives, kids on bikes programs, and informative websites. People want the stuff. We may be doing an unsatisfactory job of reaching out to them. There is an certain amount of friction new cyclist have to overcome to get into cycling.

I appreciate Sergio for stressing the importance of the IBD in the pre-show promotions, I wonder what the messaging was like in terms of the future of the IBD as big Brands go consumer direct?

Great question, I could summarize that with a few points that were touched on throughout the event…

Consumer shopping trips are often beginning online.
There is a growing opportunity for retailers to pare down brands and partner with vendors that have a strong online plan. These partnerships would lead to improved margin or better stock rotation
Retailers provide a greater reach in a community that larger vendors or online retailers have a hard time servicing.
Let the consumer decide where they want to shop.
Create a clubhouse atmosphere in your shops so customers can connect with staff and product. without being intimidated.

What wasn’t discussed in depth was the types of customers that begin their shopping online. From my personal experience the hyper focused customers have been going online to find all the data. There are 4 or 5 other types of shoppers that need retail stores to successfully purchase and use products. Understanding the customer will help retailers secure a path to success within their brick-and-mortar stores.

Going back to the overarching theme you mentioned earlier, any tips on how can we further connect with the new and diverse riders?

Yes, several.

DEI needs to be intentional
There is a Return on Inclusion
Ryan from Strider stated that every kid that goes through his program learns to ride a bike. His success rate is 100% BUT, there needs to be something there to take kids to the next level.
Use programs like Camber Survey System and NICA GRIT.

One discussion on the agenda that caught my eyes was around the boom of e bike riders and the related legal issues. How was this session?

It was a good discussion; it seems there is a ton of confusion over e-bikes. Retailers are confused as well as the consumer. This leads to uninformed decisions being made and the risk of liability at certain stages through the buying process. Establish relationships with great vendors that have UL (or other certification). There is a great opportunity for education. With new technology our industry needs to work with our governing bodies to establish laws and ordinances that spell out what an e-bike is and where it can be used safely.

Even with all the information available about dangerous e-bike batteries there seems to be a lot of shops willing to risk a fire for the all mighty dollar. There is a lot of work that needs to be done here.

I saw one of the highlights included a tour of the North West Arkansas Community College- how was that?

WOW!!! What a facility. We need more programs like this in community colleges or technical schools. It’s still very early but BEIA seems to have some momentum behind it. NWACC has a three-year commitment from donors. After that they need to achieve sustainability.

Overall, what were your thoughts about Cycle of Influence- would you go back, urge others to go?

The event was worthwhile for sure. I would love to see more retailers make the time to go. Attendance was roughly 40 people. Breakout sessions would be an awesome addition. Retailers paired up with vendors talking about business is a great way to see where each other’s blind spots are.

Cycle of Influence founder Sergio Bravo provided BRAIN a qoute “I am so incredibly pleased with how this first COI went down. The amount of praise, support and promises to return from the attendees has been amazing.” Sergio added, “I am so grateful to all the attendees, panelists, and supporters who had faith that the COI would be special.”

We are told plans for next year’s event are already well in motion and announcements will be released later this year. Follow Cycle of Influence on IG, FB, and LinkedIn @cycleofinfluence