During the 2023 Cycle Observatory, the phenomenon of overstocking was at the heart of the Questions and Answers session of the press conference. Where are we really today? And above all, when will the actors manage to get rid of it? Ultimately, this should have some small consequences for the consumer.
The Vélo In Paris 2024 festival was an opportunity for the Union Sport & Cycle to reveal all the 2023 sales figures relating to the cycle sector. Unsurprisingly, the market has suffered a significant decline, both for mechanical bikes and electric bikes. Fortunately, a plan of attack to regain growth was also presented.
During the Q&A session of the press conference, the subject of overstocking was discussed. As a reminder, the sector was strongly affected by this phenomenon in 2023, weighing down the finances of certain groups. Storing bicycles takes up a lot of space, but is also very expensive.
Denis Briscadieu, president of the Cyclelab group, took the floor to provide an initial assessment of the situation. “Over the last two years, there has been an overproduction of 142% of needs. The whole planet is overloaded with bicycles, and it may take another year to digest all this production.», he begins.
“The biggest part remains to be done”
And to continue: “It’s a bit like a team of cyclists who win lots of races for three years, and then a little less. What we need to do is redecompose our offers, make discounts, analyze what works and what doesn’t, while handicapping the margin», lists Denis Briscadieu.
“In 2023, we found 2.3 million customers who purchased bicycles. It’s up to us to show solidarity in the profession, to promote it to consumers to digest stocks as quickly as possible.», he concludes.
Another time marker was mentioned several times during the press conference: four months, before overstocking fades. André Ghestem, director of Shimano France and director of the Cycle commission at Union Sport & Cycle, focused on the calculation methods to arrive at this estimate.
“We did the exercise of calculating for each year for 5 years, the evolution between what comes in (imports and production), what goes out (sales) and exports. This allowed us to assess an overstocking of four months. We saw a first drop in stocks in 2023 compared to 2022. But the biggest part remains to be done“.
For his part, Jérôme Valentin, President & CEO at Cycleurope Industries and Vice-President of Union Sport & Cycle, provides a more detailed explanation of the industry. “What we don’t see is that 80% of frames are made in Asia. These manufacturers are overstocked with products they built, but not billed for, because they didn’t send them to assemblers“.
Less overstocking surely means fewer promotions
The person concerned continues: “This is a problem that will take a lot of time. It’s a real difficulty. This is also the case for component manufacturers, even if the flow of components has already been initiated by assemblers due to orders from resellers.», he analyzes.
The end of the overstocking phenomenon will generally allow the entire sector to stabilize, but also to reduce the large number of promotions that consumers have benefited from for more than a year.
It is an undeniable fact: to get rid of their stocks, sellers have multiplied attractive promotions. Once the overstocking was over, this type of rebate should be less common. Naturally, the price of e-bikes and mechanical bicycles should be less advantageous for the consumer.
