U.S. Bicycle Imports Have Grown, But They Still Cannot Meet Market Demand!

According to data released by the US Department of Commerce, the import volume of bicycles has increased significantly in recent months, but importers are still trying to make up for the decrease in shipments at the beginning of this year. Coupled with the unprecedented demand from retailers and consumers, two to three Monthly retail sales increased by double or triple digits, but by June bicycle imports increased by only 3%.

The result is that even if the price of bicycles has reached a higher level than in recent years, no one can make more profits from suppliers and retailers.

Michael Gacki, the Bicycle Plus office manager in Texas, said: "Now it is delivered once a week. Sometimes, if you are lucky, every arrival is like Christmas. I get 24 or 25 bicycles when the truck stops. 21 of them have already been purchased, and the life expectancy of other bicycles may be 3 hours."

Gacki said that his four-store chain has been actively ordering since the beginning of this year. On one occasion, his store had more than 100 bicycles in boxes, and there was a showroom filled with about 50 bicycles. But since the beginning of May, most of the store's inventory has been exhausted. The store is now accepting a refundable deposit for bicycles ordered. And I told consumers to wait 2-14 weeks, but this will not be faster. This is all we can say.

According to the import data released by the Ministry of Commerce, from the beginning of this year to June this year, the monthly import volume (in units) of imported bicycles only increased by 3.1% over the same period last year. However, according to sales data from NPD Group, retail bicycle sales increased 112% in April and 61% in May.

Approximately 85% of imported bicycles are for mass merchants rather than IBD. Despite the fact that both channels are selling, the supply and demand issues of the two channels are still similar, especially this year, because the demand for bicycles with IBD demand of less than $1,000 has increased.

In March and April of this year, bicycle imports fell by 29% and 31% respectively compared to 2019, mainly due to the closure of Asian manufacturing plants in January and February. Imports rebounded in May and June, but still did not reach the amount required to replenish warehouses. Manufacturers are limited in their ability to rapidly increase production capacity. Most importers say that their orders are increasing but not very large because they cannot predict the upcoming demand.

The imbalance between supply and demand means that although bicycles continue to flow into ports and to shops, wholesalers will have to wait until early 2021 to restore their previous warehouse conditions. According to the People For Bikes sales report, at the beginning of the year, there were approximately 560,000 bicycles in the warehouses of US wholesalers serving the IBD channel. By the end of June, the wholesaler's inventory was less than 100,000 vehicles.

President Bob Margevicius, Executive Vice President of Specialized, said: "Retail channels are completely dry, wholesale channels are dry, and safety stocks have disappeared. It will take time to refill these buckets and return to our on-demand inventory."

Gacki said that in his location, sales in April, May and June increased significantly. By July, despite losing countless sales due to insufficient supply, the store still achieved a sales growth of about 15% compared to the same month last year. He said that we will do our best to reach the sales level in July 2019.

It’s impossible to calculate the missed sales, but in Kansas City, Missouri, retailer Christina Baanders-Decker said: “Only Saturday, if we own bicycles, we can sell more. 40 bicycles. Last year’s April, May and June store sales were four times that of last year. July’s sales increased by about 75% over the same period last year. She signed a large contract with her main supplier, Giant last year. Pre-season orders. But when the inventory runs out, she has been filling smaller brands such as Jamis, Kona, Bianchi and Reid, but not as many as I wanted."

Not all retailer bicycles are exhausted. Travis Evans, owner of Just Riding Around Bicycle Shop in Leightonsville, Maryland, said he was lucky to be "overbooked" earlier this year. He said that suppliers including Jamis have been replenishing orders as needed. I was lucky. In March, I thought I really bought too many bicycles and how should I pay for the goods, etc. However, work stopped and I did have more bicycles. I have more stocks than ever before. "