Life can take you in many directions and lead you to form ideas you never imagined before. Robert Cobb decided to retire and move to the seaside town of Kaiaua. The idyllic location on the Shorebird Coast presented the perfect opportunity for his family to start renting out bikes. After running for a few months, they added online bookings to their website with Booqable.
Shorebird Cycles
In late 2021, Robert Cobb decided to retire from his corporate job and move to the seaside town of Kaiaua, New Zealand. Throughout the year prior Robert found out that the Hauraki Rail Trail’s first leg started in Kaiaua. On top of that, there were multiple day trips available to the Hunua range and several regional parks with beautiful bush walks and secluded beaches. It makes for the perfect location for tourists to explore.
Soon after, in early 2022, Robert and his family began setting up a permanent bike hire stand at the beginning of the trail. They purchased 15 Merida Espresso e-bikes and 10 Marin trail bikes as they were perfect for the range of customers they expected to serve. Shorebird Cycles was up and running with everything in place, serving its very first customers.
They also began offering a shuttle service to the region from surrounding areas to make it easier for customers to get to the area, collect their bikes, and start their adventure. This unique offering was critical in the business’s early success and is well-used by customers. Some even come directly from Auckland Airport to the region, thanks to the shuttles.
Managing in-store and online bookings
When they initially started Shorebird Cycles, they didn’t have online bookings integrated into their website or a way to track bookings. Robert’s son, Corey, began looking for rental software that could solve these challenges. He tried a few solutions before deciding that Booqable had the features and workflow required to manage bookings more successfully.
After setting up their inventory in Booqable, Corey could easily integrate the cart and booking buttons into their existing Squarespace website by adding the javascript code and HTML elements. This enabled them to go from no online bookings to having online bookings within just a few minutes. It also provided a streamlined online booking experience for customers.
Meanwhile, they can ensure that they never overbook themselves thanks to live availability tracking. This is especially important as some customers choose to book in-store rather than online, and they can ensure they have the stock available to serve them. Thanks to its convenience, they also use the mobile app to check on bookings throughout the day.
Personable, family-run operation
Now in their second year of business, Robert and Corey see Shorebird Cycles continuing to be a personable, family-run operation that continues to service the Shorebird Coast, Hunua Traverse, and Hauraki Rail Trail. As the area grows in popularity, they hope to grow with it and provide more and more customers with their unique experiences.
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