Trek Bicycle Corp. manufactures customized bikes and accessories, and it’s taking a similar approach to e-commerce.

The high-end bike manufacturer launched a new website enabling consumers to buy a bike online. But in deference to its national retailer network, Trek will not ship a bike directly to the consumer. Instead, web shoppers who purchase on TrekBikes.com select a Trek retailer during checkout and Trek ships the bike to the designated retailer for assembly. Any final adjustments are made when the customer picks up the bike.

The retailer earns a commission on the bike as well as on any accessories, such as helmets and apparel, bought online. And while bikes bought online must go through a dealer, accessories can be shipped directly to the customer, says Toni Gnewuch, digital marketing manager and head of thewebsite project for Trek. Trek began selling accessories online in 2005.

The new website launched in November, but Trek only recently began promoting it to consumers via paid search, email, social media ads and retargeting.

Offering online ordering is a sign of the times for Trek, Gnewuch says. “We are giving consumers options to shop the way they want to shop,” but the company’s focus is still on selling through its retailers in the U.S.

Direct to consumer sales of high-end bikes is more common in European countries and accepted by both buyers and retailers, Bjorling says. U.S. retailers are more sensitive to competition from manufacturers, however. “E-commerce and internet sales are very contentious topics among retailers,” he says.

Trek added a rider to its dealer contracts last year outlining the process and requirements of its new e-commerce strategy, Bjorling says, and its dealers are on board. “While we had a number of retailers with concerns and questions, we did not lose a single retailer after launching our e-commerce platform,” he says. Bjorling declined to comment on whether the dealer agreement specifically prohibits Trek from shipping bikes directly to consumers.

The company also added contract language enabling dealers to sell Trek products on their websites three years ago, Bjorling adds.

Trek has a long history of enabling dealers to order products online, dating to an informational portal rolled out in 2000 for which ordering was just an add-on function, says Eric Bjorling, Trek’s brand communications director. The B2B portal was developed in-house and has been upgraded steadily over the years. “We have a lot more history on the B2B site and its user experience definitely assumes a certain level of product knowledge” among dealer personnel, he says. “That said, we realize that our retailers are consumers as well and thus we make the experience intuitive.”

The B2B portal’s search criteria functionality and product organization have improved over the past few years and the site recommends additional items for certain products that require special tools or parts, Bjorling says.

“It took us a little time to realize the value of the e-commerce part of the site,” he says and notes Trek was the first company in the bicycle industry to have B2B e-commerce functions. The B2B site contains all Trek products and related information and inventory levels by warehouse. It’s also integrated with the company’s point-of-sale system used by many of its dealers, Bjorling says, “which allows them to manage their inventory more effectively as well as manage special orders.”

The B2B portal also provides information and programs for dealers related to sales, marketing, merchandising, business education and product information.

Trek sells bikes online and through a dealer network in the U.S. and through stores, supplied by distributors, in other countries. The 41-year-old company, based in Waterloo, Wis., sells bikes in 16 European countries and nine others, including Brazil, China, Japan and Mexico. Websites outside the U.S. show product prices and direct shoppers to a dealer for purchases.

Shipping customers’ bikes to dealers serves two purposes: It keeps Trek dealers happy because the commission structure for online sales appeals to the dealer and provides an opportunity for additional sales once the customer is in a store. It also ensures that the bikes, with average prices ranging from $1,200-$1,500 and as high as $13,000, are assembled properly, Bjorling says.

The new e-commerce project features a site redesign and other upgrades and was led by digital commerce consultant Loop Integration, which is a joint venture between cross-channel systems integrator Contiigo and global marketing and technology consulting firm Amaze. Loop Integration specializes in providing e-commerce technology on the hybris platform, and led the design, user experience, systems integration and solutions architecture for Trek, Gnewuch says.

The Loop team was charged with not only upgrading TrekBikes.com to enable consumer customizing and purchasing, but also incorporating details on individual dealers so customers could select the optimum dealer, says Loop president Joe Woods.

“We had to make sure all of that dealer information—location, Google maps and supportive services—are visible through the Trek site,” Woods says. “We connected the dots so the presentation and purchase is combined with the dealer who takes the bike, assembles it and contacts the customer.”

Technology upgrades included optimizing the website so TrekBikes.com renders appropriately on any device, regardless of size.

Trek declined to disclose the cost for the website redesign, but Bjorling says it’s the company’s single largest investment to date.

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