Chris Writes.

I’ve recently found myself curious about the idea and process of finding retailers on the internet. It’s rather mundane on the surface, I admit. But I think we’re all missing something.

Search for “Dealer Locator” on google and the top 3 results are car companies: Toyota, Ford, and VW, in that order. And they all help you find dealers that sell EXACTLY THE SAME PRODUCT LINE.  It doesn’t much matter to me which one I go to, they’re largely the same.

As a bicycle guy, I found myself thinking that if I were a newbie rider, or even an experienced cyclist, when I search for a Specialized (or Trek, or Giant, or Cannondale, etc) dealer in the Bay Area, I am stunned by the options.  There are lots of dealers close enough to me to drive to, and guaranteed they all have DIFFERENT STUFF TO SELL, some fantastic shops even specialize (please pardon the pun) in selling only mountain bikes, for example – great shop, but not so useful if I need bar tape. Much like picking a doctor from the blue cross website, a dealer locator provides little-to-no contextual knowledge of the shop – they are all supposed to be “the same”.  And I know for certain they’re not, yet I’m forced to call each one on the list, or worse, drive around and visit each one.

So here’s the point: I’m going to theorize that the dealer location element of a manufacturer’s website, especially in the bike business, is probably the most important feature of the website, bar none.  And I think we’re totally missing a massive opportunity to rethink how this could work.

You can look at your moblie phone and call it a phone.  Or you could call it a communication device, accepting that it also sends/recieves email, text messages, photos, and streaming video.  You could look at your dealer locator link and call it a dealer locator, or you could call it a relationship development device.

I wonder what the ultimate solution looks like. I have some guesses I’m working on, though at this point, they’re purely theoretical.