PERFORMANCE BICYCLE- CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTOR

Performance Bicycle was founded on 1982 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. It is a
leading retailer of bicycle with 1,800 employees, offering more than 10,000 products and operates on
bricks-and-mortar stores, a printed catalog business and e-commerce website.

CUSTOMER – EMPLOYEE INTERACTION

According to Mark Starkey, the Vice President of Information Systems at Performance Bicycle
(AMain Sports and Hobbies), they hired people with the same passion as theirs, making the
interaction with the customers better. The customers felt more at ease with this approach, they got to
talk to the employees because they are people with the same interest as theirs while being assisted
with what they needed. “If you find yourself in the Northern California area, come say “Hi!” The retail
bike shop rents and demos all types of bikes and can share information on local trails, group rides, or
simply what’s new.  Feel free to take advantage of our local ship to store program to buy anything we
sell online and pick it up at one of our retail stores if you are in the area!”. Performance Bicycle
(AMain Sports and Hobbies) also implemented WebSphere Portal and Web Content Manager, and
ran knowledge-transfer sessions making data sharing and managing better. Almost all their
employees use the system enabling them to work more efficiently and effectively.

EASY ACCESS AND BRAND AWARENESS

Since the people behind Performance Bicycle (AMain Sports and Hobbies) recognized the
potential of online channels or e-commerce in expanding the reach of their networks beyond the
existing ones of their retail store, they decided to open one that can meet theirs and the customer’s
expectations, may it be a live inventory, faster shipping, and an available customer service that they
can call anytime. Today, AMain Sports and Hobbies manages three cycling webstores and one brick
and mortar bike shop along with an equal number of sites and shops in the Radio Control segment.
Our cycling web sites include AMainCycling.com, PerformanceBike.com, and Nashbar.com. Both the
AMain Cycling and AMain Hobbies retail stores are located in Chico, California along with the
eCommerce distribution center.
They established their reputation on things regarding cycling and the quality of products and
services that they offer, specially their customer service system. Even videos about guidelines on
how to maintain a bike properly, and other things like that were also posted on their e-commerce site.
They focused on the right target market and operated really well based on that. “We have created a
resource that captures the imagination of experienced cyclists, and informs newcomers who might
otherwise be put off by the wide range of products available”, says Starkey.
PRODUCT-SERVICES VISIBILITY
Performance bicycle provided different channels for their customer to choose where or how to
find their products. They provided channels on where to view their products. A website, a catalog and
a physical store. Customer can easily view their needed parts, accessories or service by simply
browsing the net and rapidly purchase with any channels they choose, reducing the risk of
interrupting their tour.
 Usually company uses a single channel, it can be through online or their physical store but
never or rarely both. If there is a physical store, the customer can drop by the area and choose the
product they needed and sometimes the product needed is not available, same applies in online
store, but it takes days to weeks before the item arrived on your address. However, Performance
bicycle channels offers convenience so customers can freely choose the channel to find the needed
product. Thus, contributing to the continuous success of the business.

FUTURE READY
In the contemporary world, technological advancement become an edge to every business
worldwide. The decision of performance bicycle in dominating the emerging online market, made
them future ready. When the pandemic occurs, several shops closed their physical store and starts
selling online and endure the loss of closing their shops. However, the performance bicycle, having
an existent online and physical store, can endure the crisis of the pandemic.