I sent this letter to a manufacturer today and thought I would share it.  I  replaced the name of the company with Bicycle Gear.   The letter applies to  manufacturers with products in small local businesses and available online, especially the bicycle industry, and probably bookstores. 

Dear Manufacturer of Bicycle Gear –

It isn’t MAP. It isn’t price. I would have complained years ago about price/tax differences. That’s not the point. It’s convenient to shop online. It is the new normal to shop online for everything. Plane tickets, drivers licenses, Bicycle Gear, dog food, etc. Most transactions online are for convenience. Guaranteed each of those categories has increased online sales in the past 10 years for reasons other than price. I buy my dog’s food online now and it’s more expensive than the pet store.

The clear, distinct, unapologetic change that should happen with Bicycle Gear is that if a consumer of Bicycle Gear visits a shop, and the shop was instrumental in the sale by showing the product/having examples in stock, the shop needs to be compensated. Even if the transaction is done somewhere else later on. It is OK to recognize that the transaction process is often easier online later by a function of the consumers’ finances, availability, PayPal, whatever. It is the reality that bike shops aren’t as convenient a week after a physical visit when the transaction happens.

I am bringing it to your attention for Bicycle Gear‘s sake as much as mine and the consumer who wants access to product first hand.

I will stay in business. And more examples of this will happen in the future. The new economy, consumer, and digital world is changing and I will adapt. Will Bicycle Gear? How? Or, are you staying with the same model for a while longer?

—

Chris Kelly

Topanga Creek Bicycles
1273 N Topanga Canyon Blvd.
Topanga, CA. 90290