Halford's are huge in the UK, one quarter of all cycle shops are Halfords, about 1/4 of all cycling revenue is spent at Halfords. Ebike sales have increased by 45% I think since last year I think I read in the report below and I think last year they stated 11% of bicycle sales were ebikes. That is an absolutely huge figure and most of the other ebikes being sold aren't high end they are Amazon, ebay, Argos etc at sub £1k prices. As ever the majority of sales are lower models. The cost of one £6k high end mid-drive bike is the cost of about 15 £400 Argos ebikes.
their last year turnover 1,145M profit before tax: 22.7M.
it's clearly aiming for market share to the detriment of profit.
How about the 2500 local independent shops? It's not a healthy situation and it's not new.
their chairman's statement was 'against a challenging market backdrop, Halfords performed strongly'. How would that sound to the small bike shops?
I just don't think people realise how insignificant higher end ebikes are in actual sales and revenue yet dominate forum postings for faults.
members post about faults that they cannot fix themselves with and without the help of the vendors, specially outside the warranty period.
That is usually a reflection on the brand's value.
