Collection day and the bike is still boxed
A customer buys a hybrid on your website on Sunday night and chooses to collect on Wednesday. The order confirmation lands in the web shop's email. On Wednesday afternoon the customer arrives, and the bike is still in its box in the stockroom because nobody told the workshop. They wait forty minutes while a mechanic builds it in a hurry, or go home and come back.
Other times the bike is built, but by someone rushing, without the pedals the customer ordered fitted and with the saddle at whatever height it came out of the box.
Web orders do not become workshop jobs
The web shop and the workshop were set up separately. A web order reduces stock, maybe sends an email to the shop, and that is where it ends. Building a bike and doing a proper pre-delivery check takes real mechanic time, and it is not in the workshop plan unless someone puts it there.
- Online orders arrive in an inbox, not the workshop diary.
- Collection dates are chosen by the customer without checking workshop capacity.
- Extras ordered with the bike, such as pedals or a kickstand, are not on the build sheet.
- Pre-delivery checks are done from memory, differently by each mechanic.
- Customers are not told when the bike is actually ready.
Rushed builds and awkward collections
A rushed build is the first impression of a bike the customer paid for without seeing it. Anything left loose or unadjusted comes back as a complaint in the first week. A collection where the customer has to wait or return costs you their goodwill before they have ridden a metre. And unplanned builds push booked workshop jobs back, so the effect spreads.
There is a stock problem hidden in this as well. A bike that is sold online but still boxed can be picked up by someone in the stockroom for a walk-in customer, or sent out on a test ride, because nothing on the box says it belongs to someone. Tying the build job to the order and the stock record stops a sold bike being sold twice.
Web orders that become planned builds
We connect your web shop, whether Shopify, WooCommerce or another platform with an API, to your workshop plan.
- Each web order for a bike creates a build job in the workshop, with the bike, size, extras and the customer's height if you ask for it at checkout.
- At checkout, collection dates are offered only where the workshop has build time available, based on your normal build times.
- The build job carries your pre-delivery checklist, the same for every mechanic, ticked off on a tablet.
- Extras ordered with the bike are listed on the build, so they are fitted or packed.
- When the checklist is complete, the customer receives a ready message and a collection time slot.
- At collection, the counter sees the completed checklist and any notes to hand over, such as setup advice or the first check reminder.
| Step | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Order placed | Email to the shop | Build job in the workshop plan |
| Collection date | Any date the customer picks | Dates with build time available |
| Build | From memory | Your pre-delivery checklist |
| Ready | Assumed | Customer told, slot booked |
Collections that go the way you would want
Bikes are built and checked before the customer arrives. Every mechanic works to the same checklist. Customers pick a collection slot when the bike is actually ready, and the handover becomes a chance to talk about accessories and the first service. Web sales stop disrupting the workshop because they are planned like every other job.
The same queue works for home delivery if you offer it, with the build completed and checked before the bike goes on the van.
Are online bike orders catching the workshop out?
- Customers arrive to collect bikes still in their boxes.
- Web orders reach the workshop by word of mouth.
- Extras ordered online are missed at the build.
- Pre-delivery checks vary by mechanic.
- Unplanned builds push back booked workshop jobs.