A new report answers the question ‘Is there growth beyond the cycling boom?’
The report is driven by data from the BA’s Market Data Service, powered by Sports Marketing Surveys. The UK-wide service aggregates monthly sales data from specialist and generalist cycling sellers across the country. Data suppliers include some of the biggest bricks and mortar and online retailers as well as a wide selection of independent retailers. Monitoring over a million unique products including bikes, apparel, parts and accessories, it covers over two-thirds of the UK cycling market.
Key details in the report show how the UK cycling market soared to new heights during the Covid-19 pandemic.
As in other industries, evolving supply and demand dynamics affected the industry in 2021. Overall, the cycling industry’s total sales value in 2021 was up 34% compared to 2019, with strong double-digit growth seen across all categories, but the total number of bicycles sold in 2021 was down vs 2019.
“Our data proves that if you remove half the cars, vans and lorries from our roads, there is a very significant nascent demand for cycling,” said Steve Garidis, Executive Director of the Bicycle Association. “It also proves that without significant policy intervention to correct the car-centric, heavy-traffic status quo, cycling growth will be held back in the UK.”
Marc Anderman of Sports Marketing Surveys added, “This is another example of why robust, independent insight is so important to an industry, enhancing the decision making of brands and retailers, attracting inward investment and enabling effective advocacy. Like the BA, we firmly believe that cycling has a place at the fore of Great Britain’s Coronavirus recovery and push towards net zero and look forward to working together with the industry to track trends in the coming years.”
Simon Irons, BA Market Data Service director, also noted cycling’s appeal to the financial sector. “The BA has seen a boom in interest from the financial sector, with close attention paid to trends, mergers, and acquisitions. This sector will continue to generate investor interest, and we are confident that cycling will see significant growth in years to come.”
‘Is There Growth Beyond the Boom: UK Cycling Market Report 2021’ is a 58-page report providing a detailed analysis of cycling industry sales and growth in 2021. It integrates the BA’s sales data with complementary data sets, from weather patterns to the National Travel Survey, to provide a credible, comprehensive analysis of the UK market.
The report is one of only a few that the BA makes available beyond its membership, and it is released to provide a definitive picture of what is happening in the UK market.
To purchase the report, please contact Emma Catt at emma@bicycleassociation.org.uk or +44 (0) 203 857 4411.
The BA’s Market Data Service draws data from over 70% of the UK cycling market and is powered by Sports Marketing Surveys, the BA’s data partner. The database now comprises over 1,000,000 cycling products with history back to January 2018, and can help businesses understand UK cycling market trends and identify growth opportunities as well as support the BA’s advocacy programme.
