Most independent cycle retailers in the United Kingdom are boycotting Black Friday this year, according to a survey by the Association of Cycle Traders, with 82 per cent believing that the sales event negatively impacts independent businesses.
The cycle trade association surveyed bike shops and reported that 69 per cent of independent cycle businesses will resist the discounts this week, many reporting being unable to compete with major retailers and already at the limit with rising costs and economic pressures.
Of the ACT's membership, 82.35 per cent said they believe that Black Friday negatively impacts independent businesses, around seven per cent higher than the retail sector average of 75.4 per cent. The results are in line with a broader national survey, run by the ACT's parent company Bira, which found that 70.5 per cent of independent retailers are boycotting Black Friday this year.
ACT Director Jonathan Harrison said local bike shops are "caught between rising operational costs and the pressure to match unsustainable online discounts" and don't want to take part in the "race to the bottom".
"Our members are sending a clear message about the unsustainability of Black Friday discounting in the cycle trade," he said. "Many report that the event disrupts normal trading patterns, with shops experiencing quiet periods in October and November as customers delay purchases in anticipation of Black Friday deals.
"We're seeing local bike shops caught between rising operational costs and the pressure to match unsustainable online discounts. Our members are choosing to focus on providing year-round value, expert service, and sustainable business practices rather than engaging in what one retailer described as 'a race to the bottom.'"
Other retailers told the trade organisation that their prices are "already at rock bottom" and there is no way for independents to compete with the larger retailers' buying power.
"Bike shops now go quiet in October and November because of Black Friday with an expectation of heavy discounting," one member commented.
Andrew Goodacre, Bira Group's CEO added: "This unified stance against Black Friday discounting reflects a broader trend we're seeing across the independent retail sector. The recent autumn budget announcements, including increased staffing costs, have only reinforced the resolve of independent retailers to resist unsustainable discounting practices."
On the subject of the Budget, 90 per cent of cycle traders asked said it had not changed their view on Black Friday, the ACT reporting one respondent accused the Budget of having "rang the death knell of many businesses with National Insurance, minimum wage and business rates hikes".
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Black Friday negatively impacts their business? LMAO!
Avoiding discounts on Black Friday is all about ripping off cyclists. Just 10 years ago, I used to be able to get a nice tire for $40, and now I have to pay $110 for the same tire. Biking shorts that used to cost around $50 10 years ago are now $120? When a bike shop tries to sell a bike for $12,000 but can't, Trek tells them to lower the price to $6,000, and the bike shop owner tells me Trek and their shop were still making a lot of money on the sale, something's wrong. It's all about gouging the cyclists. I couldn't even find any Black Friday sales on tires or chamois shorts for less than $120 that I needed. So I had to go on Amazon and buy a pair of $40 shorts from China. There is no way in hell is a skinny tire that has about 1% of the material that a car tire has is worth half to a third of the cost of a car tire; there is no way that $5 worth of material to make bike shorts is worth more than $40. Shoes that cost $250 and have far less material than my cowboy boots have that I paid $240 for. Don't go off on technology, that's pure BS, all this stuff is made in factories with robotic machines just like anything else, there is no magic fairy dust being applied.
What's damaging bike shop sales are the high gouging prices that the industry is charging us, Black Friday sales has nothing to do with that!
You should ask a few bike shops about the reality, you might be surprised.
From what I've been told, if the brand chops the margin on a new bike, even a premium model, the retailer's margin shrinks significantly. It's not easy paying rents, rates, wages, insurances, bills etc and sucking up a wide range of additional costs like replacing worn out and damaged equipment, theft & shoplifting and having to appease disgruntled customers when you know they're trying it on. I really wouldn't want to be responsible for a bricks-and-mortar shop in the current financial climate.
You can buy tyres for far less than $120 but if you choose premium priced products then you'll pay for them. And it's utterly pointless comparing bicycle tyres with anything else, especially something like car tyres, based on weight.
ALERT!!! SAVE 100%!!! Stay home!
It used to be called Buy Nothing Day as a protest against the the Black Friday discounting madness. The constant BF adverts, promos and stuff shoved in my face everywhere I turn pisses me off even more while the discounts suggest to the public that the full prices are a ripoff, even if that's not true.
While I support the retail sector on this I'm a little disappointed to see the comment that the minimum wage rise is going to contribute to killing their business. If they consider their hard working staff to be just a crippling cost and resent them getting the absolute minimum legal wage (currently £11.44, rising to £12.21 per hour in April 2025) then they don't deserve to have decent people either as staff or customers. Pay a fair wage or STFU and do the job yourselves - for £11.44 per hour and not a penny more, Scrooge.
We promote #bikefriday You dont need it - go for a spin. Nice bikes and kit are lovely, but not as noice as a dawn spin this friday morning with a pal for coffee. Log out- click in this friday.
Even online-shops offer very limited discounts... I waited for this week to get a 10-25% but nothing on the articles I need.
Best strategy seems to look at several resellers, and wait until someone lower their prices
But I thought that was the whole point of black friday, in the UK at least, there are no real discounts, most stuff is sold cheaper during the year, bounces back up to rrp for October, then is discounted back to its average price, but you believe you're getting a bargain because its Black Friday and just end up buying stuff you don't need.
Why wouldn't a retail business join in with that ?
I bought the excellent Edge 1040 last year with a good, but not sensational, reduction, and this year I have bought a couple of expensive academic e-books (like e-bikes, but better and more climate-friendly) at a mere 25% discount, but I won't be getting anything on Friday
I won't be getting anything on Friday
And I didn't. As far as I can see there wasn't anything on offer anyway- just a load of con-jobs as described below
I don't see any problems with this.
BF is just a US import anyway, hardly a long standing tradition in the UK.
Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Friday_(shopping)
and
Lidl have a window poster emblazoned, "Black Friday. Starts Sunday".
I honestly thought Black Friday was last week, simply because of the number of emails I was receiving about it. I delete them all without opening.
click the unsubscribe link at the bottom of them all, then you won't get any more