I’m looking at bikes and noticed something strange. For some bikes, like this Surly Krampus, several local bike shops have the same available configurations/sizes. In the case of the one in the snapshot, they all have Large/X-Large. Is that a coincidence or are they all supplied from Surly directly and this isn’t inventory actually in possession by the shop?
To clarify, they don’t have entirely identical inventory, just certain bikes or manufacturers are the same. I’m more curous from a business perspective on how it works. Maybe Surly has some requirements they impose on the LBS?
Ohio937oihO on
This post is trippy because just last night whilst searching Surly Bridge Clubs I had the exact same thought. I’m curious myself.
justinsimoni on
They all (well: most) use the same regional warehouse for their distributor, so yeah: they can all pick from the same stock, so they’ll list that as being on-hand (tho there will be a few day wait as it’s sent over). Surly is of course owned by QBP, so it may be that they can pick from multiple warehouses in the system. They’re all probably using the same software to run their website, too. It all works together.
I don’t work in the bike industry but I’ve done my time in dirty warehouses.
3 Comments
I’m looking at bikes and noticed something strange. For some bikes, like this Surly Krampus, several local bike shops have the same available configurations/sizes. In the case of the one in the snapshot, they all have Large/X-Large. Is that a coincidence or are they all supplied from Surly directly and this isn’t inventory actually in possession by the shop?
To clarify, they don’t have entirely identical inventory, just certain bikes or manufacturers are the same. I’m more curous from a business perspective on how it works. Maybe Surly has some requirements they impose on the LBS?
This post is trippy because just last night whilst searching Surly Bridge Clubs I had the exact same thought. I’m curious myself.
They all (well: most) use the same regional warehouse for their distributor, so yeah: they can all pick from the same stock, so they’ll list that as being on-hand (tho there will be a few day wait as it’s sent over). Surly is of course owned by QBP, so it may be that they can pick from multiple warehouses in the system. They’re all probably using the same software to run their website, too. It all works together.
I don’t work in the bike industry but I’ve done my time in dirty warehouses.