Specialized starts selling directly online to the end buyer

Major moves continue to happen in the cycling industry and the news that Specialized will start selling its non-electric bikes directly online to the end buyer is one of them. This information only refers to the US market at the moment, but it would not be surprising if this were a global strategy.

Specialized introduces direct online sales, without distributors or intermediary shops

There are already brands that have been using this direct sales channel for some time, such as Canyon, but it is far from common for an end buyer to be able to purchase a bike directly from the manufacturer without the need to go to a shop or dealer. And while this may seem like minor news to the enthusiast, it could affect the delicate balance on which an important part of the industry operates, mainly the entire network of shops and retailers.

According to information published by Bicycleretailer, Specialized Bicycle Components will start selling directly online from February 1st in the US market. The buyer will be able to enter the Specialized website, select the model he wants (non-electric) and then he will be able to choose whether he wants to find a dealer with stock where he can go to buy it, as until now, or decide to buy it directly from Specialized and choose between three options: pick up the bike assembled in a shop, have it delivered packed and pre-assembled to his home or have it delivered fully assembled to his home.

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If you choose to go to a shop to pick it up, the bike is delivered fully assembled and checked, and the dealer will take 50% of their usual margin. And if it is sent directly to your home, the bike will arrive packaged and pre-assembled, which requires larger boxes and a previous passage through Specialized's specific facilities. The newest option is home delivery of the fully assembled bike, and it seems that here too the distributor would come into play, taking 75% of its usual margin. There is no clear information on this, but the price for the end consumer will be the same for either option.

Specialized is the first major brand to lead the way in this direction. And although Canyon has been doing it for years or even retail shops already sell and deliver models at home under similar conditions, Specialized is big enough to create a trend change and who knows if it is definitive.

It should be noted that this information only concerns the US market for the moment and we do not know if Specialized will take the same sales model to Europe.