They actually did it, the topic had been discussed for a long time that Harley-Davidson wanted to launch its own Harley-Davidson online shop in Germany. E-commerce is a big thing these days and in the USA they have been around for a while. In the United States, Harley-Davidson has entered into a cooperation with Amazon to place the entire motor clothing and merchandise product range on the US online giant.
Harley-Davidson enters the operational business directly with the customer.
The fact that Harley-Davidson is setting up an online shop is one piece of news, but the real news is that Harley-Davidson itself is now addressing the end consumer directly and is ignoring its authorized dealers. In Germany, almost a third of authorized dealers operate their own online shop. There have been some new additions, especially last year and this year. Online business is changing the market because every Harley-Davidson dealer actually has their own district for which they are responsible.
The dealer Harley-Davidson online trading and the online offering of new motorcycles has already caused discussions among dealers in previous years. Those without a shop were at a disadvantage and those with a shop sold their goods to their colleagues' areas. When it comes to motorcycles, people have rowed back, and some have only offered their new demonstrators online. A difficult situation for everyone involved, because setting up and maintaining a shop system is cost-intensive and labor-intensive, which is only worth it for very few dealers whose core business is actually sales, the workshop and, of course, direct contact with the customer. But nowadays the customer demands an online offer.
The online shop offer
Harley-Davidson offers free shipping and free returns on orders over $50. The goal is certainly reached quickly; you have never achieved much in this area with small change. The offer refers to the MotorClothes collection and all parts for the Harley-Davidson models are offered, but the parts can still only be purchased from the HD dealer. One thing was immediately noticeable: the items in the MotorClothes collection are often not available in all sizes. At first glance it is noticeably good and without any translation errors. The descriptions of the items are detailed and all contain extensive images. They seem to really mean it, given the enormous effort that goes into it. We will check how long shipping will take and whether the processing will work.
It remains to be seen whether the customers will change, the typical German customer is rather loyal and nothing will depend on the price, but one thing is clear, the air is getting a little thinner for the authorized dealers now, especially in these difficult times, when Harley -Davidson themselves, with the opportunities they have, enter the market directly.
External link to the Harley-Davidson online shop: Link
Hello Volker, you made a small mistake there. No parts are offered - the offer currently only refers to the Motorclothes collections. P&A and spare parts are still only available from the dealer. Visually, the shop looks good (just like the US shop). There's still a lot of trouble with the content, but we're certainly working on it right now. You first have to get used to the really small selection of items that can be ordered, because as a customer you know things differently from the big dealer shops. Cheers
Hello Martin,
thanks for the tip, I actually missed the addition “ITEM IS ONLY SOLD IN THE STORE” in the parts!
Greetings Volker