A pretty fast success story - things are going really well for the Veletage.

DMS Talk transcript for reading.

Welcome and introduction

A very warm welcome to the DMS Talk here with us at the beautiful DMS, in our studio.
Today’s topic is the Veletage concept store, community marketing and multichannel concepts.

My name is Oliver Nitz, I am CMO of Digitale Medien Systeme – and today, as before, I’ll be your host.

We at DMS have been active in retail for 20 years, extending physical spaces with digital solutions – such as digital signage, frequency and measurement systems, instore radio – and we also create the content for these, produce it for our clients and operate the systems as needed.

We always say: we do digital with purpose – and now please join me in welcoming dear Kurt Stephan, Managing Director, founder and owner of Veletage.

We’ll get to what exactly that is in a moment.

Kurt supports start-ups in the lifestyle segment and advises and accompanies international brands in the retail environment. He is a founding partner of an agency in Barcelona and spent many years in management positions at Adidas and Benetton – so he should know quite a bit about brands, end customers, target groups and retail per se.

And that’s exactly why he is here today.

Hello, dear Kurt – thank you for the invitation, I’m happy you’re here.

Origin and idea of Veletage

Um, I once saw you on a panel talking about your Veletage, and I’d like to hand over to you so you can tell us a bit about what Veletage is, what you do there – and maybe also why it’s a somewhat different store concept from what you usually find on a classic shopping street.

How did you come up with the idea – and what exactly is it?

Veletage: The salon for cycling culture

Veletage is the salon for cycling culture.

Veletage is a very high-end bicycle store with a focus on road bikes and city bikes.

But for us, sales are not the main focus – it’s all about the cycling experience.

Successful sales follow a memorable experience – that’s how we arrived at this idea.

As you already said in your intro, I have a background in consulting, and when you do a lot of consulting, a lot of good ideas are left lying around somewhere.
They don’t get implemented, they’re too radical, sometimes too bold.

And then there was a training camp – I also ride my bike a lot and with great passion.

We were sitting together with friends and complaining that in Austria there are only the 715 bicycle shops.
That, if we wanted to buy our brands, we had to do that in London.
Or in Girona, Barcelona – at the time, those were the hotspots for buying bikes.

Why something like that didn’t exist in Austria.

And you – briefly as a retail expert – said: “It’s actually your responsibility to create something like this.”

And together with a friend who was there, I took on that responsibility.

And yes – in 2015, almost exactly ten years ago, in March 2015, we opened Veletage – the salon for cycling culture.

The store concept: fewer products, more experience

And what does Veletage look like, how should we picture it?
You have a store?

Yes, it is a store – but you don’t see hundreds of bikes crammed in, as you would usually expect in a bike shop.

We have, at most, two or three bikes on the floor.
All other bikes are part of the decoration, built into shelves, somehow presented, integrated into the product presentation.

We place a big emphasis on cycling apparel, what some call velo culture – so very high-quality, very design-oriented cycling clothing.

We also have very special accessories, whether that’s very high-quality bicycle pumps where every single part can be replaced – so no throwaway products – or premium sunglasses – a complete package.

And on top of that, we have a small fitting studio where we also offer bike fitting.

Bike fitting: made-to-measure perfection

In principle, it’s the measurement – the dynamic measurement – of the cyclist.

We don’t just measure leg length, arm length and torso length; instead, you sit on a turbo trainer or your own bike, you move dynamically, you’re filmed while riding, and these data are then evaluated.

That allows the bike to be set up correctly for you.

We don’t adapt you to the bike – we adapt the bike to you.

This can be done with existing bikes – if you come in with your current bike, it can be adjusted perfectly.

In addition, we offer saddle pressure mapping to optimise saddle position.

But the process is also ideal for getting a new bike in exactly the right dimensions for you from the start, or for building it up so that from the very first metre, everything fits.

Our ambition is that when you leave Veletage with a new bike, you don’t have to come back a week later because something hurts – but that from the very first metre you’re riding a perfectly fitting bike.

And we manage that in 99 out of 100 cases – and that’s our standard.

Luxury segment and lifestyle market

You sell sports bikes, apparel – you’re positioned in the luxury segment, you could say.

I once had a look – 5,000 euros and upwards, more like 10,000 for a complete bike.
We’re not just talking about the frame.

You also offer bike and shoe fitting.

What I find particularly interesting: why this segment?

As I said earlier, the way it started was actually quite egoistic – because my friends and I didn’t want to travel that far anymore to get what we wanted.

But also because, as a consultant, I had seen that so much potential stays on the table.

At the time, everyone was saying: road cycling is the new golf.
But that was more of a marketing slogan without substance – there was nothing behind it.

And that was one of the reasons why we focused on road bikes.

Brand philosophy and claim: “Ride pretty fast”

Back then, the brand Rapha was still quite new and had created a new trend, a new boom – bringing cycling out of the tinkerer’s corner and the high-performance niche into the lifestyle space.

Today that development is much more advanced, but back then, ten years ago, we had anticipated it.

We saw where things were headed and wanted to follow that trend, to contribute something.

And it certainly helped that both my founding partner at the time and I were very active in the sport ourselves and were engaging with those new brands that were emerging back then.

We also didn’t want to ride around like advertising columns.

We didn’t want to be out on the bike in old club jerseys – if you’re not racing anymore, you don’t really need a club jersey with sponsor logos.

And in my free time I don’t want to ride around advertising the local pub or whoever it may be.

Design, attitude and brand identity

The term Veletage is derived from Beletage – the “beautiful floor” in 19th-century Gründerzeit buildings.

That’s why we derived the graphic CI from this and quote it in many elements – in the logo, which picks up Art Nouveau elements, and in the interior design, for example with the tiles in the first room.

We very deliberately reference this Viennese Art Nouveau style.

In addition, around the turn of the last century, cycling was recognised for the first time as a movement of liberation.

For women in particular, it opened up access to individual mobility for the first time.

So we actually derive the corporate design more from the name Veletage.

“Ride pretty fast” stands for what we mean by that:
speed, style and joy – without being over-serious about it.

Community marketing and group rides

This attitude runs through everything – from our assortment to our events and all the way to our internal values.

We don’t take ourselves too seriously.
There are more important things in the world.

And even if you ride expensive bikes, you shouldn’t take that too seriously either.

When we go on group rides, it’s always the slowest person who sets the pace, so no one gets dropped.

No matter how far we ride – we define that in advance, and we ride in a way that everyone can keep up.

In the end, it should be a great experience for everyone.

Digital channels, online shop and the “Rollt” newsletter

How important are digital channels for you?
Do you also sell through your online shop?

A 15,000-euro bike is an investment – you don’t buy that blindly on the internet.

But people do their research online – our online shop is very, very important.

There we can present the products and make all services bookable online.

We generate around ten percent of our revenue online.

Particularly successful are Strava and our “Rollt” newsletter, featuring columns by Tom Rottenberg, which provides real content instead of advertising.

We even get emails when we’re late sending it – that shows the newsletter is being read.

Community event: the Velo Vertical race

Our race is called Velo Vertical – it always takes place on the first Sunday in October.

It’s a 120-kilometre loop through Vienna with 17 climbs and over 2,000 metres of elevation gain.

Only the uphill segments recorded on Strava count.

The race has now become an institution – a guerrilla race with participants from all over Europe.

Fairness, community and fun are what really matter.

The fastest riders are called “Delors” – Viennese dialect for “die Luren” – and they are honoured in the evening.

The future of retail: retail as a medium

“Retail must become a medium.”

The basic supply function is fulfilled – what counts today is experience.

A store needs to be a place of experience, not just a provider of goods.

Experience instead of mere product delivery.

Today, the scarce goods are no longer products, but moments.

Personal beats digital.

Closing and outlook

Oliver:
That is the perfect closing statement.

Many thanks, dear Kurt, for this super-interesting conversation.

And thanks also to everyone who joined us today for this DMS Talk.

We host DMS Talks regularly – not every week, but on an ongoing basis – and you can find all episodes on our website at:
www.digitale-medien.at/dms-talk

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