Rob Enslin - train smart, race well.: November 2008

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Online Christmas shopping: Chain Reaction Cycles vs. Wiggle

Introduction

With budgets tight and Christmas looming I thought I'd write a post about two of the UK's most popular online cycling shopping websites. There are others like evanscycles.co.uk, awcycles.co.uk, but what's different about these two sites is their longevity and proactive marketing approaches.

One could argue that I should have posted this comment to my internet blog, but being cycling-related I think this is a good place for it to go.

I've bought products from both shops and have had great service from both. What's always impressed me is the speed at which I receive my orders - it's almost unbelievable how quickly my ordered products arrive. The fact that they're still around operating is not only testament their competitive prices but they've managed to keep their delivery service consistently good. (I'd love to hear from people who've had otherwise experiences)

Who are these guys?

CRC - Chain Reaction Cycles are based in Doagh, Ballyclare and have been around for many years now.

Best Service - If you have a problem, we’ll get it sorted. Whether it’s a late delivery, a damaged parcel, a broken product or you just don’t like the stuff you received, we want to make sure you end-up with what you want.

Wiggle - arguably the oldest and most-established online bike store and has been around since I moved to the UK (around 10 years ago). Wiggle are best known for their free deliveries, cheap prices and silly name. Wiggle is based in Portsmouth, Hampshire and does not have a show room nor a number you can call - all correspondence is channeled through email. This can be quite annoying at times although they are quick to respond.

Both have very quick and secure delivery services. I would say CRC are perhaps slightly better customer service wise.