I'd promised the wife and kids we'd get some new bikes; maybe there's a site for that. I'll call up Yahoo, type `bikes' ...what's this, Bikesdirect.com? Give it a try. (Drums fingers while the site loads.) Wow, look at the prices on these Motobecanes! I used to have one of those. Wonder what they make now.... Look at that, a full-suspension mountain bike for $450-boy, that sounds great.

What else do they have? Comfort bikes, what're those? Let's see, here's some text...gee, these sound just right for Mary. And look at this, Bell helmets, too. Let's put a couple of those in the shopping cart with the bikes and head to the check-out.

Hmmm, 30-day money-back guarantee, a secure credit card server, free shipping; sounds okay. Wonder how long it takes to confirm the purchase-hey, there we are! Man, that was quick. I'd better bookmark this site so I can tell my buddies at work about it.

Now, where was that site with the illustrated Starr Report...?

Sound farfetched? It isn't. On-line commerce is already a fact of life for millions of users who are buying books from amazon.com, sporting goods from rei.com, and bidding at on-line auction sites like onsale.com. It is estimated that 87 million adults in the U.S. and Canada alone are already connected to the Internet, with 148 million users worldwide, according to statistics compiled by nva Limited (www.nva.ie). And commerce figures tracked by Cyber Dialogue (www.cyberdialogue.com) show those users spent an estimated $3.5 billion on-line last year.

Now, with the advent of Bikesdirect.com, Internet surfers can buy a bike on the 'Net on Monday and be riding it the next weekend.

Bikesdirect.com is the brainchild of David Sander, a 44-year-old Texas entrepreneur whose roots in the business go back to 1985. Over the past 10 years, Sander has helped put together the Houston-based 35-store Cycle Spectrum chain, with sales estimated at $17 million. Bikesdirect is a separate enterprise, a nine-month-old company with four employees that draws its goods from Cycle Spectrum's massive inventory but otherwise operates independently.

Bikesdirect.com is the first bike-specific site to offer complete bicycles over the Internet. The range is surprisingly complete, with road, mountain and comfort bike offerings, ranging in price from $299 to $950. Bikesdirect also offers Bell helmets, from the $39.95 Forza Pro to the $89.95 Evo 2 Pro, in a full range of sizes. And Sander plans to add more brands of bikes, clothing and accessories in the coming months.

The advent of Bikesdirect.com could be viewed as the latest assault on that last bastion of free enterprise, the independent bicycle dealer; but as Sander points out, on-line sales aren't that different from mail-order sales. The same tactics that dealers use to lure and retain customers will continue to work in this new era of on-line commerce.

More intriguing, perhaps, is a look at how the system works: How one goes about setting up an on-line sales site, how much it costs, and what is required to maintain it. After all, the reputed egalitarianism of the Web should enable anyone to duplicate Sander's efforts. Shouldn't it?

VeloBusiness: How long have you been working on Bikesdirect.com?

David Sander: I really started when I went to Interbike Anaheim last year. I spoke with a company about what it would take to get this going, with no idea whether it would go or not, and they wanted about 15 grand to set up a turnkey site. Without knowing anything up front, that seemed high. On the back end of it now, it doesn't seem like it was that high (laughs). It has taken an enormous amount of time, since I have retail stores. My day starts early. I get up at about 5 in the morning to do the Web stuff, or else I do it in the evening after work.

So it is still a side business?

Yes, I guess it's a secondary/primary job. I have enough freedom that I can do it when I come home, or take a portable computer with me to work. But doing it when I'm in the stores is difficult. I really need to focus on one thing at a time when I'm there.

What happened after you got the original $15,000 bid?

I didn't know what I could sell, I didn't know if I would sell anything, so I didn't want to spend that much right away. I am semi-computer literate and I thought I could do a lot of it. I found out immediately that I couldn't. Making Internet sites for fun is pretty simple with the software that is available, but getting into secure servers, shopping carts, good links, good graphics, that kind of stuff, is incredibly time consuming.

I lucked out because I called an ad for a Web designer. Tami Evers had posted her business on America OnLine. I talked with her, and up front she said her company [Platte Valley Net;www.pvni.com] was kind of new at it, too, but she would find the answers. We became a very good team. Over the course of the year I talked with her every day.

How did you split the work?

I had someone do the pictures; Tami and I did the graphics, and she prepared the pages.

Then you had to find someone to put you on-line.

Right. Through trial and error I came across a company called TABNet [www.tabnet.com] and they hosted my site. They sold me a commerce package that included credit card verification, shopping carts, and a lot of space so I could add as much as I wanted.

What did that cost? That was probably a grand or so. Luckily, I got in early. I think the same things I spent a couple thousand on would be closer to eight thousand now.

Trying to do it yourself is humbling. I had a terrible time trying to figure out credit card transactions; I had a terrible time trying to figure out a shopping cart so people could actually buy things. It was such a nightmare I was ready to give up. I couldn't get simple information back that I needed; it wouldn't interact with things. TABNet finally solved all that for me, and it's working pretty well.

When did the site go up?

April was when it actually had a shopping cart and a secure server. The funny thing is the day it was active was the day I made my first sale, and it was not to anybody who had done work on the site. I never found out how he got to it. I know he got the bike and that he's excited about it, but I've always wondered how he found us.

Do people go to your site primarily for pricing, or convenience, or what?

Well, I think that people enjoy doing it. There are a lot of people that really like computers. And as long as they know they're getting a good price, they're willing to overlook the uncertainties that can come with the Internet.

What sort of uncertainties?

Well, how do they know that I'm legitimate? Anybody can open a Web site, and bilk someone else out of a bunch of money. In my opinion, credit cards take care of that because credit cards give you a large degree of protection against fraud.

You also have testimonials posted on your site to allay people's fears. Yes, and the people who submitted the testimonials get e-mails, in turn, about them, which is an independent source of information.

Another assurance I provide is a secure server, but I don't think most people realize when they're on one. Basically, if the Web site address starts with "https," it's secure. Also, Netscape has a key that is either solid or broken, depending on security, and Explorer has a little lock that's sealed when the server is secure. But let's face it: which is safer, giving your credit card to me on the Internet or handing it to some 20-year-old waiter and letting him walk into the back room with it? What difference does it make?

I find people in their 50s usually aren't comfortable with Internet sales, and, of those who are, most are still uncomfortable with credit card Internet sales. A lot of them would like me to call them for their card number instead of giving it to me over the Internet. Gosh, if you call on a portable phone, anybody on earth can get the number. So when you think about it, it is as safe as making any credit card transaction anywhere.

Next page of this feature

Home