Crystal Clear Evidence for Trading Muc for More Bucks
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The world’s leading brand of bicycle cleaning, protecting and lubricating products, Muc-Off, is celebrating three decades of helping riders clean up.
Established in 1994, the UK-based brand has been a trailblazer in creating bike-specific cleaners, protectors and lubricants and continues to set benchmarks in high-performance products – while developing an accompanying and comprehensive selection of tyre sealants and tubeless conversion kits, chamois creams, accessories and other products.
Muc-Off has dominated the clean, protect, lube market since Alex and Rex Trimnell established the brand. Rex had already made his mark as the founder of the X-Lite bicycle forks and bar ends and created Muc-Off as the world’s first bike cleaner to overcome the damage caused by generic household and automotive cleaners to the anodised parts of the components they were producing.
The range grew quickly and now comprises a comprehensive range that can support the needs of all riders, ensuring Muc-Off can really be the principal brand in store. That includes bulk-sized bottles for workshops.
Muc-Off has also made major inroads in helping retailers clean up, particularly in recent years.
Working directly with around 700 retailers in the US, Europe and the UK has enabled Muc-Off to develop shop display strategies and stands unrivalled in the bicycle clean, protect and lube segment.
Its highly distinctive pink packaging and attention-grabbing shop displays, developed through extensive analysis of shopper behaviours, is helping many stores turbocharge their sales!
The brand’s Australian distributor, Sheppard Cycles, is achieving matching results with Muc-Off retailers.
Quadruple Sales
“Muc-Off’s global data shows stores without a display sell about $4-$4,500 worth of clean, protect, lube product annually. With a single, free-standing display, sales can increase to $16,000 per year,” Sheppard Cycles product manager James McAndrew explained.
“If they go to a double display, which holds twice as much stock, it can go up to $36-$37,000 worth of sales.
“It can be a very profitable space if done well. You need to sell a lot of bikes to deliver the same amount of income from an equivalent square meterage.”
“The displays make these products an easy self-select by customers, providing a simple path to purchase.”
Sheppard Cycles and Muc-Off provide planograms and works with each retailer to optimise their displays.
One metropolitan store that introduced a Muc-Off display this year recorded more clean, protect and lube sales in the following three months than it achieved for all of 2022.
“Muc-Off knows putting certain products on certain shelves delivers better results. For example, a lot of shops put lube on the top shelf because customers often come in saying they need to lube their chain,” he added.
“But that’s the perfect opportunity for easy add-on sales by asking ‘have you cleaned your bike before you lube it? Do you need a degreaser? After cleaning your bike, applying a polish or protectant spray will keep it cleaner for longer’. Then sell them the lube after they’ve purchased that additional product.”
Muc-Off’s product positioning ensures the customer’s focus passes over these other products, before finding the lube.
“Just as importantly, the displays make these products an easy self-select by customers, providing a simple path to purchase. It’s not super high-value product, so you don’t want to be spend much time on a sale, instead of selling a bike.
“But they generate good repeat business and get people back in stores. When people aren’t buying new bikes, they pay special attention to looking after their existing ride.”
Muc-Off’s expansive catalogue is also a blessing for time-poor shop staff, offering a simple option to broadly cover customer needs. It can work well alongside other brands that don’t have such a big range but James says it often quickly becomes retailers’ number one brand – aided by the merchandising and other support available.
Project Green
Sustainability has always been at the forefront of Muc-Off’s philosophy and is now encapsulated in the brand’s Project Green program, which has reduced plastic consumption by more than 200 tonnes in just three years.
Punk Powder is the flagship product for Project Green. This readily biodegradable cleaning powder is a ‘just-add-water’ version of Muc-Off’s signature pink cleaner and is the world’s first plastic-free bike cleaner. Its light weight means Punk Powder is significantly more energy efficient to transport, cutting carbon emissions during shipping.
Muc-Off’s development of high-performance chain lubricants has been driven by a partnership with the Team Sky and Ineos Grenadier UCI World Tour teams that dates back to 2012. Their collaboration produced the first hydrodynamic lube and the new Ludicrous AF – heralded by Muc-Off as ‘the world’s fastest race lube’ – was a key ingredient in setting UCI World Hour Records.
Muc-Off lubricants have also delivered numerous Classics and Grand Tour victories and podiums almost every year for more than a decade.
That focus on performance has filtered down to everyday riders. Most recently, Muc-Off created a specialist, ceramic-based e-bike lube tailored to handle high torque of electric bikes, reducing wear on expensive componentry.
Muc-Off also recently launched an all-weather lube for riders who want something that does the job regardless of the conditions.
The further information about Muc-Off products and sales solutions, contact the customer service team at Sheppard Cycles on 1300 883 305, at csaustralia@sheppardcycles.com or visit www.sheppardcycles.com.