Let me tell you what is the best-selling bicycle tool?
It has passed 15 years since our factory was established in 2006. During these 15 years, we make business with thousands of customers. No matter domestic customers or foreign customers who start business in this cycling industry would like to inquire the best-selling bicycle tools by recommending some products. So, what is the best-selling bicycle tool? How do we recommend suitable bicycle tools to customers?
There are different consideration standards for domestic customers and foreign customers. Domestic customers usually refer to whether the project can provide high-quality, low-cost bicycle tools and the diverse types of bicycle tools. Foreign customers consider some other various aspects.
They will consider the qualification of the factory and whether the factory has the qualification to provide products to foreign customers, such as whether the factory has GS certification, ROHS certification, etc. Are the materials of bicycle tools used environmentally? Is the production process qualified? Is the bicycle tool tolerance provided within the controllable range? Does the product quality meet international standards? More importantly, whether the factory can provide a corresponding warranty period for bicycle tools.
- let’s talk about the soft indicator- factory qualification followed by procurement.
Chinese factories generally pass the ISO 9001 quality certification system. Although the ISO 9000 standard is the international organization for standardization, the concept was put forward in 1994 and then the international standard was formulated. But at present, ISO 9000 does not have much practical significance except those factories that need external bidding. Generally speaking, there are two standards in foreign countries. One is about the product production process and product quality, and the other is about company management and culture.
Generally speaking, for foreign customers such as Monz and Lidl, the most important thing is to check GS, Reach, and BSCI certification.
2 let’s look at the hard indicators of tools, product quality, packaging, and so on.
The bicycle tools produced in China are mainly medium and low-grade. Of course, this is also regional. The bicycle tools produced in Taiwan are closer to the medium grade, while the bicycle tools produced in Jiangsu and Zhejiang are closer to the low grade, and some can meet the middle-grade quality standards. We all know that the quality of tools in Taiwan is better, and of course, the price will be higher. In terms of the purchase price, the purchase price of tools in Taiwan is usually 30% ~ 100% higher.
Concerning material selection, although carbon steel will be used as the main raw material in Taiwan and Mainland China, the hardness and ductility of products will be different due to different alloy compositions and proportions. Secondly, some bicycle tools in Taiwan will use stainless steel and other raw materials. Their processing technology determines that they can use more kinds of materials for production.
Most of the bicycle tools in Chinese mainland and Taiwan are produced by human working. Even the fully automated production line is used for the carbon steel slicing and molding some simple bike tools, it cannot achieve complete automatic production. This kind of hand-made tools largely determines that the production leading period of some bicycle tools will be relatively longer and some bicycle tools will have scratches in the production process, which are produced by forging hand-made bicycle tools. If a fully automated production line is used to produce bicycle tools, from raw materials to finished products, it will greatly helpful to make bicycle tools and keep the surface clean and brand-new.
In Europe, many bicycle tools have been fully automated, reducing manual operation. Therefore, the bicycle tools produced in Europe are high-grade tools among bicycle tools, and the selling price is also relatively expensive.
Of course, we also see that the bicycle tools produced in the mainland are slowly improving. For example, the glue free tire patch was previously produced in Taiwan. Now China can produce good bicycle tire glue and bicycle glue free tire patch. Ten years ago, the tire prying rod produced in China was easy to break. Now, the bicycle tire burst has high flexibility, which is comparable to some big brands, and new materials are constantly emerging.
3we would like to talk about the packaging of bicycle tools.
For example, large supermarkets prefer to pack by tie cards, head cards, display boxes, color boxes, and color printing bags, so that it is easier for end customers to see products and even try to buy them when shopping. In recent years, customers like Amazon, which is a must-have shopping platform, will choose clear PP bags for packaging. This kind of packaging can better save costs.
When the customer asks about recommending bicycle tools, we will recommend appropriate products to the customer according to 3 factors: historical sales volume, superstore wind vane, and new products with new technologies. One thing to note here is that some products are designed and patented by customers. This kind of bicycle tool cannot be recommended to other customers. If there is no patent, it is a regular bicycle repair tool, it is alright can recommend it to customers.
Historical sales volume: It can reflect the popularity of bike tools. Take bike multi-folding tools for example, according to the bicycle accessories generally needed by customers, we have combined bicycle folding tools with more than 200 types. But the best sales are around only 20 kinds. According to the sales volume, we have divided the bicycle tools into 10000 pieces, 100000 pieces, and million pieces. Million-level tools have the characteristics of low price, strong practicability, and a high degree of standardization, such as the TF04.
It only has bike screwdrivers and bike hex tools. It is a simple multi-tool with only near USD1/pcs cost. It is a good choice to buy it or use it to make a bike tool kit.
The superstore weathervane
It is recommended by bike tools or bike accessories purchased by super customers such as Monz, Lidl, Decathlon, and other large stores. They usually purchase bicycle folding tools, bike tire patches kits,s and bicycle toolsets. As they will buy the products in large quantity. If some small customers buy similar products, bike tool factories can arrange production together so the final price is more favorable.
New products and technologies
It takes a long time to accept bike tools new products and technologies. The main reason is the bicycle tools with new technologies are sold at higher prices with similar functions to the old style. For the overseas market testing, professional buyers make great efforts to investigate and survey. After that, they will inquire about bike tools and search for a new way or a new product. For example, Japanese customers do not like the chain teeth produced by carbon steel, but choose stainless steel chain, because the chain ruler produced by stainless steel is straighter and has less error. The chain ruler produced by carbon steel will be a little bent during annealing. Although a certain slight radian is acceptable to domestic customers, it is difficult for the strict Japanese to accept it. They will treat these products as defective products.
For customers, they should not only consider the factors of the factory but also consider the needs of the market. When purchasing products across borders, each international purchaser will comprehensively consider factors such as procurement cost, product promotion applicability, and acceptance of existing customers. The best bike tools are the most suitable for the customers.
