Channel Mastery - Ep. 40: Larry Pizzi, President of Accell North America eBike Division
Accell North America
meet the bike consumer where they are today
“Measuring new revenue streams and customer acquisition through this new revenue stream is a whole different system of metrics that retailers will now have to fold into their traditional business model.”
- Larry Pizzi
show highlights
If you follow the bike industry, you’re well aware that not much good news has been pouring in lately…meaning for the last few years. Today on the show, I talk to longtime industry leader (and longtime good friend), Larry Pizzi, about how Accell North America (ANA) is making strides to change that depressing news cycle.
In January of this year, ANA announced a revolutionary omnichannel strategy that provides three levels of opt-in for brick and mortar retailers. Larry and I discuss how ANA is striving to make the “missed connections” with a HUGE subset of customers on behalf of the company’s retail partners with its click and connect strategy. And how it all can unfold in a win-win-win scenario. ANA isn’t letting the news get them down. They’re learning from it and leading the charge with the innovative strategies their consumers are demanding.
featuring
larry pizzi
Larry Pizzi is the president of Raleigh Electric, the eBike division at Accell Group for North America, and the Accell owned, Currie Technologies’ electric bike competence and service center (EBCC). EBCC is one of the leading US developers of electric assist bicycles that are marketed under the brands Raleigh Electric, Haibike, and IZIP. Larry has been with the company since 2002, transitioning ownership to Accell in 2012.
With over 40 years of experience in the bicycle industry, Larry was the general manager of the bicycle division at Schwinn/GT and held senior sales and marketing management roles at Mongoose. He has also held sales management roles at Bell Sports, Service Cycle Supply, and Derby Cycle Corporation. He owned a three-store chain of specialty bike shops in Philadelphia, and has served on the board of the National Bicycle Dealers Association (NBDA).
Currently, Larry serves as Vice President of the Bicycle Products Suppliers Association (BPSA) and is the chairman of the association's eBike committee.
topics covered
omnichannel bike industry, customer experience, ebikes, bike industry analysis, integrating channels, mobile service, customer lifetime value, customer retention, return rates
select quotes
"The retailers that have been ingrained in the business for a few decades feel like they're under siege. What I feel really positive about is that with our omnichannel consumer-centric approach, we're offering them new revenue streams and a new method to acquire consumers and bring them into retail so that they can have the best possible customer experience.”
“The consumer wants choice. Retailers need to be able to interact with those consumers that are opting in at different points of entry”.
“When we talk about integrating our click and collect strategy and giving the consumer the option to come into the store to fulfill that purchase or have it delivered via a Beeline mobile service provider that hopefully is the same retailer, it really connects the dots.”
“Measuring new revenue streams and customer acquisition through this new revenue stream is a whole different system of metrics that retailers will now have to fold into their traditional business model.”
“Yeah, [the consumer we’re reaching] is difficult to reach through the traditional brick and mortar model. You've got to give them experience to enable the relationship to begin.”
“What we're offering is really unique because we're offering IBDs a bite at the apple of that consumer that they've not been getting since this whole [online shopping] trend began.”
related links
Accell North America: https://www.accell-group.com
Currie Techologies: http://www.currietech.com/
Raleigh Electric: https://www.raleighusa.com/electric
Haibike: http://www.haibikeusa.com
IZip: https://izipelectric.com/
Beeline Bikes: https://beelinebikes.com/
Connect with Larry on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/larrypizzi/
People for Bikes: https://peopleforbikes.org/
“ANA Releases New Omnichannel Program for IBDs,” by Stephen Frothingham, for Bicycle Retailer and Industry News (Jan. 19, 2018): http://bit.ly/2JR3CAC
“Accell North America Acquires Beeline Bikes,” by Bicycle Retailer and Industry News (Mar. 28, 2018): http://bit.ly/2EQ5eXF
“The Great Retail Bifurcation,” presented by Deloitte: http://bit.ly/2Jzf9Ev
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