A bespoke Shopify website built around bikes, business and community
Velo Bavarian needed more than an attractive ecommerce website. It needed a flexible digital home for its bikes, custom builds, workshop services, memberships and thriving run-and-ride community.
I worked with Luke to create a bespoke Shopify website that brings those different parts of the business together while giving him the freedom to manage its day-to-day content himself.
The project at a glance
- Client: Velo Bavarian
- Sector: Cycling retail and community
- Platform: Shopify
- Partnership started: 2023
The challenge
I started working with Luke in 2023. At the time, Velo Bavarian’s existing website had reached its limits.
Adding bikes was difficult and time-consuming, while the underlying architecture offered little room to develop the website into a complete ecommerce platform. It also struggled to represent everything Velo Bavarian had become.
This wasn’t simply a bike shop. Alongside selling premium bikes, framesets and custom builds, Velo Bavarian offered bike servicing, several membership options and an active community of runners and riders.
Luke needed a website capable of supporting all of this without becoming difficult to manage.
A Shopify store designed around buying a bike
The new website was built on Shopify with a bespoke design tailored to Velo Bavarian’s identity and the way its customers shop.
Bikes can be organised clearly by brand and category, making it easier for customers to explore the range. Individual product pages support variants such as frame size, along with detailed technical specifications, imagery and embedded video.
This gives customers the information they need when considering a significant purchase, while making it much easier for Luke to add and manage stock.
Dedicated areas were also created for Velo Bavarian’s custom framesets and custom bike builds, giving these specialist services the space and prominence they deserve.
Making room for the Velo Bavarian community
Velo Bavarian is about far more than selling bikes. Its run-and-ride community is an important part of the brand, so the website needed to serve existing members as well as potential customers.
Dedicated content was developed for group runs and rides, bike servicing and the Velo Bavarian membership programme.
Different membership options were configured as products within Shopify, allowing people to compare their choices and join online through a straightforward purchasing journey.
The result is a website that reflects the complete Velo Bavarian experience: shop, workshop, membership and community.
We wanted a website different to other retailers in our industry so we approached Georgia. She built us something bespoke, which perfectly showcased our brand identity. Our website is clean and easy to navigate whilst telling our customers everything they need to know. The shop has gone from strength to strength in that last 3 years, with our customer base growing to all corners of the UK. Georgia's help building our online presence has been a huge part of that.
Connecting ecommerce with social and email marketing
Velo Bavarian has built a significant online presence, particularly through social media. The website was therefore integrated with its Instagram content, helping visitors move naturally between the store and the wider life of the brand.
The site was also connected to Velo Bavarian’s email broadcasting platform, creating a joined-up system for promoting new bikes, offers, rides and events.
Custom Shopify automations support ongoing customer communication, including abandoned-basket reminders and birthday messages offering members a free drink. These flows help Velo Bavarian maintain personal relationships with customers without every interaction needing to be managed manually.
A website Luke can manage himself
Giving Luke control of the website was a key part of the project.
The Shopify back end was structured so he could upload new bikes, manage product variants, edit specifications, publish articles and update key content with minimal input from me.
The website is now ticking over smoothly as part of the business rather than creating another administrative burden.
The result
Velo Bavarian now has a flexible Shopify website that reflects the full scope of the business.
It provides a stronger ecommerce experience for customers buying bikes and framesets, supports specialist services and memberships, connects with the brand’s marketing channels and gives its community a place to stay involved.
Most importantly, Luke has the autonomy to keep the website current and continue developing it as Velo Bavarian grows.
Need a Shopify website with more room to grow?
If your existing website is difficult to manage or no longer reflects what your business has become, I can help you build a flexible Shopify website designed around your products, customers and ambitions.