MyBike.com

Bike racing is an extraordinary popular hobby amongst men and women between 35 and 50. The acquisition of accessories (clothing, pace-meters, etc.) is often done via online channels.

MyBike.com is an originally Dutch pure-player which was founded in 2014. The company has grown rapidly in recent years and sells to a variety of countries including the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany, UK and USA.

In recent years, management has put all the focus on international growth. Last year, the company achieved its growth targets. Of the 550 million euro turnover, 45% is achieved internationally. The United States are with 8% in share a rapidly emerging market.

Supply Chain

The company operates an own, dedicated central distribution center. This DC is in the Netherlands. 80% of the assortment is shipped from this DC to all other countries. The remaining 20% are delivered by suppliers to customers directly. This percentage will increase.

MyBike uses DHL for shipping within Europe. UPS is used for deliveries outside of Europe. They utilize a next-day" and a "next-day + x" distribution approach. Time-slot deliveries are not important in this market (yet). On an annual basis, MyBike ships 4.4 million parcels.

Returns

The company has an average return rate of 8%. Returns currently go back to their own DC in the Netherlands. This also applies to the drop-shipment deliveries from the suppliers. Out of all returns, 70% are commercial returns. 30% are returns of defective products (technical RMA / DoA). The average processing of a return takes 16 days. The customer pays the shipping costs for a commercial return. MyBike pays the transport costs in the event of a defective (/guarantee) return.

Systems

MyBike runs on self-programmed web-shop software. Within the DC they use a standard warehouse management system. The implementation of a global ERP system was launched six months ago and will be completed within two months.

The market is moving

Amazon.com is clearly oriented towards the market of MyBike.com. It is expected that this giant starts selling a comprehensive range of bicycles and related products next year. Management has therefore focused on strengthening MyBikes market position and customer loyalty.

Returns Management Task Force

Management has made an improvement of the returns process a strategic goal, so they created a task force. The team starts shortly and has to set up a completely new returns process that should achieve the following objectives:

1- The duration of the process has to be reduced drastically and must be under 5 days within Europe at any given situation

2- Returned products should be available for (re-) sale much faster