March 31, 2020 - (Frankfurt, GER) On our recent trip to Europe in late January for a series of e-bike factory tours, we were interested to learn more about the retail scene there as well. In a quiet, rural-like setting just 10 km from the city centre lies e-Motion e-Bike Welt Frankfurt.
Started six years ago by Ingo Klein, the store has grown into one of the leading e-bike destination shops in Frankfurt, the fifth largest city in the Germany with 2.3 million people. Due to the current global crisis, the shop isn’t able to receive customers but is happy to take calls and has an on-line shopping web site with a digital store-window that is updated daily offering complimentary e-bike delivery within 50km with any purchase.
The location was carefully chosen with customers in mind. It is in an area with bike paths and quiet roadways, making it a great place to test ride bikes. As a destination shop, being removed from a high-traffic urban setting was not an issue. “The location is perfect for us. We are close to bike paths, forests and trails, a great place for the customer to test ride bikes. We are also in “commuter land,” with the commuter market making up 40% of our business,” commented Klein – check out video interview with him below.
As you enter the front door of the shop you find yourself in a sea of e-bikes, all neatly displayed in their category, stretching the length of the store to the service counter in the back. Home to 12 brands, with 11 different engine platforms, commuter e-bikes are the first in line, with local brand Riese & Muller prominently displayed.
“Riese and Muller’s factory is only 30 km away and is very popular in the local market. Bosch products also have a strong brand recognition, and are also very popular for the quality and feel of their engines. With that being said, all of the e-bikes and power systems we carry are very good, and it comes down to feel and specific model application,” added Klien.
As you move through the store one is struck by the large scale and variety of models to which the e-bike market has grown. There are leisure and commuter bikes from companies like Stromer, Gazelle, Corratec and Raleigh, eMTB bikes from Giant, Specialized and Haibike, with cargo bikes as well including brands like Dutch manufacturer Urban Aero and Triobike from Denmark.
They carry a cool folding bike from Gocycle based in the UK, which is designed to fit in the trunk of a Porsche, and speed pedelecs, which are e-bikes that are designed to go 45 kph and require special licensing and insurance.
Customer service is key to the success of e-Motion e-Bike Welt Frankfurt. There are four employees dedicated to sales, with another five providing mechanical service. To ensure customers are well taken care of and given full explanations and options, they allow up to two hours of personal service. In addition, all of their service staff have traditional bicycle mechanic backgrounds with ongoing specific training in e-bike related systems.
The shop is part of e-Motion Technologies, a franchise group of 60 stores throughout Germany, Austria and Switzerland. This partnership is very important for the growth of the store, access to products, along with purchasing power. “It is a very friendly environment being part of this group of like-minded shop owners. We work very well together exchanging ideas, and it allows us to create items that we could not easily do alone, like this electronic in-store catalogue,” explained Klein.
e-Motion e-Bike Welt Frankfurt’s 200 square metre shop has enough space to showcase their models with an additional 200 square metre size warehouse to store inventory. “There is currently are no immediate plans to expand or relocate the shop but we’ll let the market help decide our next move,” concluded Klein.
For more information please visit here.
