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Rich and Marc Moore, co-founders of Source BMX, join us for a deep-dive into the challenges and opportunities Source BMX navigated through 2020 including preparations for Brexit, expansions into new markets and ensuring a resilient tech stack.
In this session find out how retailer Source BMX has navigated 2020 and its plans for the future.
Learn how:
In 2003 Source BMX was a small store on the south coast of England with a website that launched the following year. Today it is the largest BMX retailer in the world.
Brothers Marc and Rich Moore joined Linn Academy 2020 to share their growth story, explaining that today ecommerce makes up more than 95% of its sales. The business is still supported by a store, as well as a skate park but the duo explained that today they are more for marketing and PR purposes since online is where the growth is.
The business exploded in April as shoppers in lockdown turned to cycling for their exercise and the duo had to manage the additional demand while adjusting operations to comply with lockdown rules. Today the skatepark and store remain temporarily closed, but some changes will now be permanent. “Our customer service team all work remotely,” said Marc. “We have people working in different regions around the world, so we offer 24-hour customer service.”
Expansion into 24-hour customer service.
The 24-hour customer service was something that the brothers had long considered, but the pandemic made it a more urgent requirement. “We had always talked about 24-hour service, but this made us do it in the space of a few weeks,” said Rich. “We’ve jumped forward to where we wanted to be in a couple of years’ time.”
As the retailer looks to build its international business further so Brexit is an obvious concern. A German warehouse has recently opened, in order to serve customers in the EU region. “The only way for us to make it work with our business model and relatively small order size was either to be in the EU or lose all those sales altogether,” said Rich.
International growth supported by local shipping.
The set-up in Germany has followed the blueprint of its US expansion, which saw Source BMX launch a 32,000 sq ft warehouse in the US two years ago which this year is doubling in size. It’s a model that other retailers should consider, advised Rich. “There are massive advantages to opening in countries rather than trying to ship worldwide. Don’t be scared. Setting up a business overseas is relatively quick and simple and there’s big advantages to having your product close to your customer.”
The pair say they are excited about the opportunities for the future and the fact that ecommerce has moved forward so dramatically. “A lot of the fear has been taken away from the people who weren’t regularly buying from the internet,” said Rich “It’s becoming normal now to everybody.”
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