Emergency situation boosted bicycle sales
Restrictions on using sports facilities, gyms and swimming pools in the emergency situation have boosted bicycle sales as cycling remained one of the few forms of exercise available to people.
Finnish bicycle sellers are reporting unprecedented sales figures, with growth amounting to 50 percent on average. There is talk of the bicycle business having doubled also in the USA. ERR asked Estonian bicycle dealers whether this spring was somehow different.
Ivo Rull, head of communications for the Prisma chain of supermarkets, said that bicycle sales have indeed grown noticeably this spring.
"Yes, we can say that the fact people could only exercise outdoors has boosted bicycle sales. We have sold around 30 percent more bicycles this spring year-over-year. Whereas bikes were on sale last spring, while we have avoided such campaigns in the emergency situation," he said.
Fear of the virus and various restrictions have changed people's shopping habits that has seen e-commerce turnovers spike. This, coupled with limited ways people can spend their free time, has doubled bicycle sales for the Kaup24.ee online shop, in both the city and mountain bike categories, said head of communications for the shop Raimonda Strazdauskaite. She added that previously considerable intertest in scooters has subsided this year.
Alo Maidla, executive manager of Hawaii Express that mainly sells bicycles, said that they have not seen a spike in sales this year, even though sales are better in Tallinn that has more people and money going around.
"Sales have grown in all groups – kids' bikes, city and mountain bikes – but because sporting events were banned in the emergency situation, sale of more expensive bikes has not grown," Maidla said.
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Editor: Marcus Turovski