Academic Work

Executive Summary

Statement of the Problem - Schwinn is not attracting the younger market and its sales are suffering because of increasing competition and loss of market share especially in the mountain bike market segment.

Background - Schwinn is a bicycle brand that for years had twenty-five percent of the market.  Schwinn did not adapt to the mountain bike trend in the 1980’s and as a result its sales suffered.  The sales suffered so bad that Ignoz Schwinn sold the company to Zell/Chilmark.  Schwinn’s turnaround seems to be going well.   Today Schwinn has five percent of the $2.5 billion annual retail bike market.  Schwinn’s image as yesterday’s bike is hurting sales.  People see Schwinn as “the bike their parents rode” and today’s bike market wants the trendier bikes with the latest technology.    

Discussion - Schwinn needs to capture more of the market share.  Much of the bicycle market share is under the age of thirty.  Schwinn does not have a strong brand image for this younger crowd.  This younger crowd wants bikes that are on the cutting edge of technology.  By creating a new line of bikes that offers the trendy features, Schwinn will have a product that offers the younger customer what he or she wants.  This will also make Schwinn much more competitive in bike shops that carry a number of brands.  Every new product line needs a marketing plan.  Schwinn need to get the product out in the stores to promote the new image.  Schwinn also needs to have advertisements that will spread word about Schwinn’s new image.  If Schwinn can get this new image out to potential customers we will see Schwinn’s sales increase along with their market share.

Recommendation - Schwinn needs to market and develop a new line of bikes that offers trendy features that the consumers are looking for.

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