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Tuesday, April 3, 2001
Bike shop rolls on-line
Internet changes how 76-year-old Braun's Bicycle does business,
KIRA VERMOND reports KIRA VERMOND

Special to The Globe and Mail

KITCHENER, ONT. -- When Braun's Bicycle & Fitness launched its e-commerce Web site, Mae Braun bought herself a map and a pack of coloured push pins. Every time the business made an on-line sale, she located where the customer was from, and marked it with a pin.

That was in 1996. In six short years, the Internet has changed the way in which the family and staff have done business for four generations. Now, Braun's takes on-line orders from around the world and responds to more than 75 e-mails a day.

"It was exciting, but now it's going fantastically well so I don't have time to bother with that kind of nonsense anymore," Mrs. Braun says of the push-pin exercise. She runs the family business with her husband, Willard, and twin sons Robert and Roger.

The on-line portion of Braun's business makes up close to 10 per cent of its annual revenue, Robert says, "but it's gone past the experimental stage to the point where it's a vital part of our business and we're allocating real assets to it."

For example, the company recently added three full-time employees for the Web operation and a toll-free number.

If the company is curious about whether a new product will sell, it now displays it on its Web site (http://www.brauns.com) rather than in its showroom, where floor space is limited, Robert says.

And now that the company ships globally, manufacturers with restrictive sales policies no longer cut it, he adds. "If I can't sell it on-line, I often won't put it in my store."

As well, staff no longer automatically unpack bicycles, unicycles, car racks or fitness equipment unless they're being used as floor models. That's because with on-line sales, much of the merchandise is shipped rather than ridden out of the store.

The family owned business got its start in 1925, when Gordon and Grace Braun hung their shingle out on a muddy Kitchener street. Bicycles were considered cutting edge at the time.

The store, which was recently voted best bicycle dealer in Ontario by the Bicycle Trade Association of Canada, is still based in Kitchener, but Braun's client base is now worldwide. The United States is its biggest on-line market, but orders have come from as far away as Austria and New Zealand. Only 14 per cent of the company's on-line sales are in Canada, says general manager Robert.

Brauns Online started out as a shot-in-the-dark with two goals: to experiment and be seen as more technically advanced than the competition.

"I've been able to try things and experiment with things that I would never have gotten to do in someone else's company," says Robert, 39."

The company also uses the Internet to maintain a high level of customer service. It has a policy of responding to e-mails within hours of receiving them. "I'm amazed how shocked people are that we do it, which tells me how bad other customer service probably is," Robert says. "But it's the same thing as that phone ringing."

Last year, Braun Online filled close to 1,000 orders for items ranging from sunglasses to scooters and bike racks. And it sold 40 bicycles -- many to bike enthusiasts who could comfortably bypass the usual test-drive.

Other customers live in small towns or remote areas where unicycles or the right car rack -- two of the niche markets that do well on the site -- are hard to find.

When Robert approached Braun's technology partner, emerge2 digital Inc. in 1995, he knew there might be something his bricks and mortar company could do with the power of the Web, but he wasn't sure what.

Bryon Thur, vice-president of sales and marketing for emerge2, recalls: "They were way ahead of the curve and in 1995, no one was doing e-commerce."

Working together, the companies built a catalogue site, then moved on to an e-commerce-driven site. The beginnings were rocky, however. In one instance, Braun's lost more than $200 on an order because of high shipping costs. They had to figure out a way to easily tabulate shipping costs.

"I remember the family sat down and said, 'Should we do this Internet thing? This is costing us a lot of money.' Robert says. "Fortunately, the decision was, 'Let's just wait and see how it goes.' "

The gamble paid off. The additional revenue comes in handy when the snow flies and bikes are the furthest thing from the minds of customers in Ontario.

Internet sales from sunny California or Texas keep the business hopping during those months.