BikeExchange.com.au took out the AMP Innovation Award at the Victorian Telstra Business Awards on the weekend, thanks to its demonstration of genuine innovation leadership since it opened for business in 2007.
According to host Anne Fulwood, BikeExchange.com.au, Australia’s #1 bike website for finding, buying and selling bikes, bike parts and accessories, was well deserving of the honour,
“Such a simple idea – bring together the Australian cycling community on one website. To turn that community into a commercial concern and for it to be the go-to place for everyone who has a bike deserves the highest accolade” she said.
BikeExchange.com.au receives over 445,000 visits per month and lists over 45,000 items for sale. It provides fast and simple search engines to sift through these listings, which are placed by a combination of nationwide private advertisers, as well as over 400 bike retailers. It’s also consistently ranked Australia’s third most visited sports shopping website.
Founders Jason Wyatt and Sam Salter said they’ve always run a driven business, but are confident the award will open up additional opportunities and challenges.
“Bikes have outsold cars consistently for the past ten+ years in Australia. We realised cycling in all its forms was experiencing exponential growth, and recognised an opportunity to develop BikeExchange.com.au. Providing an instant online service to find, buy and sell anything and everything bike related was a niche we knew we could capitalise on,” Wyatt said.
BikeExchange.com.au was recognised due to its strong marketing and customer-service focus, as well as its high level of innovation, which includes:
• The development of a unique ecommerce platform that allows retailers to sell directly on BikeExchange.com.au and provides them with a fully integrated customised ecommerce website;
• An exemplary Search Engine Optimisation programme, which has given the business prominent presence in online searches;
• Simple advert placements, enabling users to quickly and effortlessly upload everything about their bike, including a video;
• Advanced technology banner advertising, which delivers better precision targeting. For example, a helmet distributor places a banner ad in the helmet section; clicking on the banner ad results in the instant display of all that distributor’s helmets;
• Bespoke programming enables the business to track all web data since the site’s inception. This provides precise insights into consumer online behaviour as well as invaluable data to the biking retail industry.
