GetGeared, the online mail-order retailer voted “best” for value in the RiDER POWER survey, opens its first store in Leatherhead. GetGeared describes the store opening as “taking the GetGeared philosophy from the internet to the high street”.
Just 1 minute from the M25, and 5 miles from Box Hill and the South East biker meet, “Ryka’s”, the new store location has been carefully chosen and expensively refurbished to create a unique environment that showcases German brands such as VANUCCI, HELD, CYCLE SPIRIT, PROBIKER, DELO, MOTO-DETAIL amongst others as well as SHOEI and SIDI. The store’s aim is to create a one-stop shop for bikers, whether it is clothing, service parts, specialist tools or a new number plate that they need.
The GetGeared philosophy has been rewarded with a RiDER POWER endorsement from its customers GetGeared was started in 2004 by Georg Braun and Mark McCance to offer UK bikers products and brands that are big on the Continent and that at that time were mostly unknown in the UK. The founders’ philosophy was simple: combine a unique and partly exclusive product offer with Continental levels of customer service, mix in a little fun and a lot of practical attitude, and you get yourself a business that is different from other motorcycle clothing and accessories retailers.
- Over 99% of customers would and do recommend GetGeared to their friends
- Over 95% of customers find the ease with which to place an order and receive their goods “excellent” or “good”, when compared to competitors
- The rider community voted GetGeared “Best for Value” amongst mail-order companies in the 2007 RiDER POWER survey, with second place for overall performance
Georg Braun: “Customers tell us that they like the combination of great service, great quality and better value – or in their words: ‘I found that my experience with your company from initial logging on to putting on the helmet was faultless and on a par with a service you would normally expect from a Continental company, efficient and effective’.”
The GetGeared store concept integrates closely with the existing online store When GetGeared asked its customers whether they would travel to a brick-and-mortar GetGeared store, 26% stated they would only purchase online. But 74% wanted a GetGeared store near them, even making suggestions where the first one should be opened!
For Mark McCance and Georg Braun, taking the GetGeared offer to the high street meant translating the experience created online to a store environment. The Leatherhead store is the first of several planned and incorporates many of the features designed to replicate the online product and service offer. It is also distinctly different to other motorcycle accessory stores.
Mark McCance: “When we looked at the customer research, it became clear that our customers wanted stores that integrate with the GetGeared online store; It had to be one business, where it does not matter if you go to the store or shop online, it is always the same company and approach you deal with. In this world of many channels, this is the only way the customer is best served. And that sets GetGeared apart from the franchise model used by several of our competitors where the interests of the store and its staff and the online business are different and often conflict. GetGeared staff represent the whole business and are incentivised to help and support you whichever way you shop.”
The interior is designed to create an exciting atmosphere and set the store apart from its competition Georg Braun: “We made online shopping easy and fun, and we worked closely with the design agency ABA-Design to ensure that the store takes the same approach. Seats made with Bridgestone racing tyres that saw action on the Donington Park Grand Prix Circuit, changing rooms covered in cinema posters with the motorcycle movie all time greats, and a huge vista wall of the long Rocky Mountain road that we all dream to ride down. It sets an atmosphere that goes to the heart of why we love riding and that gives the store a different excitement compared to the motorcycle showroom come workshop come motorcycle accessory shops we found when we scouted the competitors. Being retailers as well as bikers we invested in proper lighting to give the clothing and accessories their due credit. We got great products and the environment around them has been created to make shopping for them exciting.”
With the doors freshly opened, Georg Braun says the real work has just begun: “We built the online business with our customers, asking them for their feedback and acting on it every day. The store is no different. Every first Sunday of the month there is an open day with free food, the opportunity to talk over a cuppa, and a prize competition asking for feedback and we’ll change the store and its offer according to what our customers tell us!”
Website : www.GetGeared.co.uk
Telephone : 0845 017 5007
