For many businesses and brands, the customer journey is no longer a straight path from point A to point B. These days, customer interactions are much more fluid, like a long and winding road with a number of small pit stops and detours along the way. As customers continue to chart their own course, brands that show up and add value on each leg of the journey will create more memorable experiences that customers can’t help but love.
From digital marketers at big brands to mom-and-pop pizza shops and rising TikTok influencers, creators and businesses alike are using Bitly QR Codes to (re)imagine the possibilities and connect to their audiences and customers in new ways.
We sat down with Lauren Rothering, Senior Brand & Product Marketing Manager at Rad Power Bikes, to learn about how the brand is using Bitly QR Codes to transform and streamline the customer experience at all of its retail locations.
As North America’s largest electric bike brand, Rad Power Bikes is changing the way people get around. Learn more about their suite of electronic bikes and follow them on Facebook and Instagram.
Making transportation energy-efficient, enjoyable, and accessible
Back in 2007, Mike Radenbaugh built his first ebike to speed up his commute to high school. After years of converting traditional bikes to electric bikes, in 2015 he teamed up with his college roommate Ty Collins to bring Rad Power Bikes to the masses. Together they transformed the brand into a direct-to-consumer powerhouse, starting with the RadRover electric fat bike, and have experienced rapid growth ever since.
Whether you’re in the market for an all-terrain bike for some weekend fun or live in a city and simply want to shave off a few minutes from your morning commute, the team at Rad Power Bikes empowers all its cyclists to get where they’re going with high-quality products. And because the brand is so passionate about powering eco-friendly and active lifestyles of all kinds, the team knows the importance of creating a smooth customer experience at every turn.
Lauren and her team set out to find a way to simplify a number of key customer interactions—both in-store and on the road—and knew Bitly QR Codes could help them get on the fast track to success.
Steering retail experiences in the right direction with Bitly QR Codes
With a vast array of products, accessories, and information to share with customers across its retail stores in North America, Rad Power Bikes is leveraging Bitly QR Codes in-store to help point customers to more resources online. Whether customers are looking to upgrade certain parts or purchase helpful accessories like lights, helmets, locks, and mirrors, Rad Power Bikes’ goal is to make it simple for customers to access what they need, when they need it.
“Using QR Codes helps us have a more consistent customer experience across channels. It gives us the opportunity to seamlessly direct people from a retail store experience to our brand website, which is an important part of the customer journey.”
To make every interaction more dynamic, the company leverages Bitly QR Codes on hang tags in retail locations, transforming ordinary product labels into gateways to online information. With the scan of a code, customers are pointed directly to corresponding product pages on the brand’s website where they can explore everything from detailed specifications to compatibility details and accessory recommendations.
“Many of the resources we want to direct our customers to are online, so we print QR Codes on signage across our retail stores to guide customers to our product pages and social media channels to give them easy access to more information.”
By seamlessly integrating Bitly QR Codes into its retail marketing strategy, Rad Power Bikes gives all its customers the opportunity to curate their experience with the brand based on their own unique needs and preferences.
Streamlining ebike rentals and customer support for every cyclist
Rad Power Bikes’ commitment to customer convenience extends to its rental service and customer support strategies as well. These Bitly QR Codes facilitate the booking of rental bikes and the scheduling of service appointments, transforming customer experiences by minimizing the effort it takes to reach each customer’s goal.
“We have rental fleets across several stores and we wanted to make it easy for customers to book their bikes or schedule a service with Bitly QR Codes. They can do this right from their phones in a matter of minutes, which saves everyone time.”
For Rad Power Bikes and their customers, convenience is the name of the game. When you’re ready to take on your next big adventure and hit the road, the last thing you want is a clunky customer experience getting in your way. Using QR Codes to seamlessly connect customers to the brand’s products and services makes every interaction more enjoyable in an instant.
And as Rad Power Bikes continues to unlock value from the use of Bitly QR Codes at their retail locations, new ideas are emerging to enhance customer experiences even further. Lauren and her team are considering adding Bitly QR Codes to product packaging and manuals to easily provide customers with immediate access to tutorials, resources, and online support.
“Right now, we’re using QR Codes at pop-up test ride events in our local retail communities. Our team is also exploring how we might add QR Codes to product packaging and manuals to help customers seamlessly access relevant information wherever we can.”
Making a brand campaign more actionable with Bitly QR Codes
Whether you’re saddling up on a RadRover Electric Bike to power your next off-road adventure or hopping on your RadCity Electric Bike to explore a new neighborhood, the Rad Power Bikes brand is synonymous with a spirit of fun and adventure. Earlier this year, Lauren and her team took this concept to the next level by launching a contest with the goal of finding “America’s Most Bored Person,” and used Bitly QR Codes to help boost submissions.
To inspire even the most bored person in America to get out there and start having some fun, Rad Power Bikes asked participants to submit a brief video explaining why they deserved the title—and how an ebike would add some excitement to their life.
“Our brand promise is that we help our customers find their fun, and this campaign was a tongue-in-cheek way to do just that. By including Bitly QR Codes on our out-of-home marketing materials, we were able to drive more people directly to our landing page so they could learn more and enter the contest.”
Prizes included the choice of five Rad Power Bikes ebikes and twenty-five accessories, an all-expenses-paid trip for five to a chosen U.S. destination, and a $10,000 check for the lucky winner. Rad Power Bikes used Bitly QR Codes throughout their promotion of the contest to encourage people to participate—and they saw a ton of super creative submissions roll in.
“For this campaign, we were trying to get someone from a physical, in-person experience—like seeing an advertisement in the wild—to a digital one. Using Bitly QR Codes helped us drive this action much more effectively than asking people to type a huge URL into their browsers.”
From watching grass grow and playing a TV show on repeat to reading the same book every day and waiting for water to boil, there was no shortage of fun and inventive submissions for this one-of-a-kind campaign. Congrats to the lucky winner!
Using Bitly QR Code insights to make more informed decisions
From retail locations to a national brand campaign, Rad Power Bikes knows how important it is to understand your customers inside and out. That’s why Lauren and her team are using Bitly QR Code data to make more informed decisions across all of their marketing efforts with a deeper understanding of customer behavior and engagement.
Lauren is looking at which placements receive the highest number of QR Code scans across their retail locations to uncover new trends and unlock insights about what’s working best at each store. Plus, being able to manage, create, and analyze all of these QR Codes in one platform has its added benefits, too.
“Having one central location where we can manage all of our QR Codes is super helpful. Bitly is user-friendly even if you aren’t really technically inclined, so you can just hop into the platform and create hundreds of QR Codes easily.”
With Bitly QR Codes, Rad Power Bikes is able to deepen its understanding of each rider’s experience with the brand both online and offline, making every interaction more meaningful.
Navigating the ever-evolving customer journey
By leveraging the power of Bitly QR Codes, Rad Power Bikes is seamlessly navigating the transition from offline to online interactions, all while empowering customers with the information, resources, and support they need to ensure a smooth ride.
The possiBitlyties are endless when it comes to making the customer journey more streamlined with Bitly QR Codes for Rad Power Bikes’ customers—and here at Bitly, our mission is to be a catalyst for connections. With the Bitly Connections Platform, customers can customize and shorten links, create QR Codes, curate their Bitly Link-in-bio, and track performance—all in one place.
Feeling inspired? Get started today or find out how other industries are using the Bitly Connections Platform to imagine the possi(Bitly)ties.