The increasing popularity of e-bikes and company bicycles leads to increased sales and turnover
Vienna (OTS) – Bicycle sales figures have leveled off at a high level of around 480,000 units over the past five years. More and more of these bicycles are high-quality e-bikes, which is also reflected in sales. This development is favored by company bicycle models, because customers in sports and bicycle shops are increasingly turning to higher-priced e-bikes with a wide range of equipment.
Rapidly increasing economic power
In 2022, around 506,000 bicycles were sold by industry to sports and bicycle retailers (+ 3.2%). The sales figures show the economic power of the bicycle industry: In 2021, bicycle sales exceeded the billion mark for the first time. In 2022, sales increased again by 36 percent to EUR 1.39 billion. An estimated additional 200 million euros were earned from the sale of accessories and spare parts. On average, people paid EUR 4,203 (+ 23.3%) for an e-bike in 2022, EUR 1,790 (+ 39%) for a non-electric bicycle and EUR 473 (+ 4.2%) for a bicycle for children and young people.
“While other retail sectors continued to struggle with falling sales from 2021 to 2022, specialist sports retail grew – by 5.9% to 2.38 billion euros,” explains Holger Schwarting, Spokesman of the VSSÖ Presidium and Board of Directors Sport 2000 Austria. “This puts sports retail in 3rd place among the sectors with the largest increase in sales, behind clothing retail (+19%) and shoe retail (+10.4%). Around a quarter of the total turnover is generated with bicycle sales. This shows the appeal that bicycles have for Austria as a business location.”
Company bicycle models as sales drivers
The reason for the strong increase in sales is the e-bike sales. With sales of EUR 1.03 billion, e-bikes make up 74 percent of total bicycle sales. That’s a 36 percent increase in sales, while sales volumes rose 11 percent to 246,728 units. “The current tax break promotes the sale of higher-priced company bicycles in Austria. A look at Germany, where company bicycles are already much more common, tells us that the potential in specialist shops is much greater. With the right support measures and an expansion of the bicycle infrastructure many more sections of the population in Austria can discover cycling for themselves,” Hans Jürgen Schoderspokesman for ARGE Fahrrad and CEO of Thalinger Lange.
Sports and bicycle retailers in Austria also share this observation. A lightning survey by ARGE Fahrrad and VSSÖ among the experts shows that almost 80 percent of sports and bicycle retailers ask customers about company bicycle models and providers several times a month. At 40 percent, this even happens several times a week.
Every second bicycle sold in Austria is an e-bike (market share = 49%). E-city bikes and e-trekking bikes are still the most popular model category (127,595 units, +9.8%), closely followed by e-mountain bikes (105,400 units, +4.6%).
Great potential for e-transport bikes and folding bikes
(E-)Transport bikes are becoming more and more popular: Especially in urban areas, the demand is increasing due to the wide range of applications (private transport/families, commercial distribution/deliveries). In 2022, the market has doubled for the second time in a row compared to the previous year: in addition to the 4,223 e-transport bikes, there are 552 non-electric transport bikes (+ 17%). In addition to climate-friendly transport using (e-)cargo bikes, folding bikes in combination with local public transport also play an important role in reducing CO2 emissions in the transport sector. 3,917 folding bikes were sold in 2022 (+ 63%).
This shows that the market for (e-)transport bikes and folding bikes is still at a very low level, but that there is great potential for growth. A key factor in exploiting the potential is not only the incentive to buy in the form of e-mobility promotion, but also the expansion of the bicycle infrastructure. “For the first time, folding bikes were also taken into account in the mobility promotion. This is an important step in the right direction,” confirms Michael Nendwich, Spokesman for the sporting goods trade in the Austrian Chamber of Commerce and Managing Director of the VSSÖ. “The fact is, however, that employees who are bound by a collective agreement are not yet benefiting from company bicycles. That needs to change. On the other hand, it is important to invest in the bicycle infrastructure: cargo bikes have so far been an urban issue and even here there is often not enough space. In rural areas we still have room for improvement.”
Positive outlook for sports and bicycle retailers for the coming year
The flash survey by ARGE Fahrrad and VSSÖ also shows: Now is the ideal time to buy a bike. The storage areas in sports and bicycle shops are very well stocked, numerous models are available directly in shops without waiting times. With this mood, the dealers also look at the Easter sales. A third of those surveyed expect sales in the Easter business in 2023 to be similar to the previous year. A quarter (27%) even expect sales to increase by up to 15 percent at Easter 2023. However, 39 percent of those surveyed expect lower sales in this period compared to the previous year – most of them up to minus 15 percent.
The bicycle as an economic factor also gives momentum to business investments: around half of those surveyed plan to make investments for this and the coming year. Of these, 20 percent want to expand their workshops and 19 percent their sales areas.
Questions & contact:
Association of Sporting Goods Manufacturers and Sports Retailers in Austria – VSSÖ
Silva Leschner
Communication & PR
silva.leschner@vsso.at