A fresh outlook: George Blankenship on Verge’s unique approach to retail

Daniel Blackham sits down with Verge Motorcycles’ CRO George Blankenship to discuss the brand’s entry to the UK market and its unique approach to retail 

This piece first appeared in the August edition of BikeBiz magazine – get your free subscription here

The micromobility industry is a broad church of different transport modes: from pedal cycles all the way up to fleets of delivery vehicles.

In the UK, we are still seeing dozens of brands entering the market with plenty of e-bike motor manufacturers debuting new systems, cargo bike brands tackling different pain points, and innovative fleet solutions as businesses target net zero in the coming years.

One segment which has been quietly growing over the last few years is electric motorcycles. 

And for an industry which is so synonymous with the sounds and smells of an internal combustion engine (ICE), the number of bikes hitting the tarmac is not small.

According to the Motorcycle Industry Association (MCIA), new registrations peaked in 2022 at 6,526. Last year saw a 37.8% drop to 4,062, although this was reflected industry-wide with new motorcycle registrations down across the board.

There are small green shoots of recovery though with electric motorcycles up year-on-year through the first half of 2024 while ICE products remain down when compared to 2023.

One brand looking to kickstart its own story as part of the electric revolution on these shores is Verge Motorcycles.

The Finnish manufacturer was founded in 2018 and has already garnered significant interest in the motorcycle world thanks to innovations such as its hubless rear-wheel which houses the motor.

Beyond the Tron-like aesthetics is also a brand which prioritises safety with the TS Ultra offering a plethora of preventative measures. Quite important for a bike that can go from 0-60 mph in 2.5 seconds…

But why is Verge prioritising the UK as a key growth market? And why now?

“We see a country that not only understands the importance of migrating to EVs, but one that also enjoys riding motorcycles for fun and enjoyment,” explains George Blankenship, chief revenue officer at Verge Motorcycles, when sitting down with BikeBiz earlier this year.

“This is the perfect place for us to engage with people who will love what we’re doing as a company and the way we see the future of motorcycles.”

Retail is detail

With a career spanning more than 40 years, Blankenship is known for developing acclaimed retail strategies for world-renowned brands such as Apple and Tesla.

He is now responsible for developing Verge Motorcycles’ customer interface and customer journey, as well as its global store strategy.

“Motorcycles have been manufactured with the same underlying format for the past 150 years,” he says.

“At Verge, I was particularly inspired by its boldness to shake old habits. Verge has literally reinvented the wheel to better serve both their riders and the environment. I see the same potential in Verge today as I did in Apple two decades ago and Tesla one decade ago when we took a big step forward to completely redefine their industries,” says Blankenship.

The first – and biggest – step for both Blankenship and Verge in the UK came in May as it commenced sales and opened a pop-up store in Westfield London.

“The reception has been beyond our wildest dreams,” he says.

“Since opening, over 1,000 people have already signed up to get a test ride, which is way beyond expectations. 

“Customers who have signed up for a test ride should be expecting to hear from us very soon to set up their ride, and as an added bonus they get to be among the first ever to ride a Verge bike in the UK.”

If you speak to any brand in the micromobility sector – particularly those that focus on recreational use – the importance of a hands-on experience is often crucial to the sale process.

This is no different for Verge.

“Physical retail is the best way to introduce new technology to customers who may or may not even know our product exists. And when done right, physical retail invites customers to actively participate in the information they receive,” says Blankenship.

“When people walk by our showroom and see our bikes two things happen. First, they see a bike that looks like something out of the future and they wonder if it’s actually real. Then they see our Wheel-Motor and their curiosity level goes sky high because they’ve never seen anything like it, and that’s when the magic begins. At that point they don’t even know where to start with questions so that’s why the Verge Team that works in our showrooms is so important.

“They basically understand that the reason we have physical retail is to enable customers to learn about our bike, our company and our vision for the future in whatever way the customer wants to … not the way we want them to.”

Blankenship says that the goal is to have the customer guide the conversation to wherever they want it to go. 

They may want to know everything there is to know about the Wheel-Motor, or they might want to know more about why the bike doesn’t have a chain or transmission, or they might want to learn more about the company, or they might just want to get on the bike and take a picture.

“Any or all of those outcomes are 100% fine with us,” he adds.

“The customer guides the conversation so they get whatever information they want, and when they want more they simply stop back and see us again the next time they visit the shopping centre. 

“This is the type of engagement you can only have in physical retail and our showroom goal is very simple… Everyone who leaves is smiling.”

Location Location Location

Choosing Westfield London as the place to start selling a premium electric motorcycle may seem strange on the face of it, but the concept is becoming normalised, especially in the car industry.

BYD, Genesis and Tesla all use Westfield London to showcase their products and it appears to be paying off.

But why?

“Westfield London is the perfect place to actively engage with as many people as possible on a day-in-day-out basis when they are not thinking about buying a motorcycle,” explains Blankenship.

“This gives us the opportunity to introduce our company, our advanced technology and our bike in a way that is interesting and informative vs trying to ‘sell them a bike today’ from an inventory of bikes that might or might not be the exact bike they want.

“We want our customers to enjoy their entire journey with us, from the day they first discover us at Westfield London to the day they buy their third or fourth bike from us 20 years later.  It’s about creating a connection that gets better and better as time goes by.”

The UK electric motorcycle market is far from fully mature. It may even be decades away from that point.

But Verge is laying the foundations in preparation for when that time comes.

And in the immediate term, the brand will be focussing on putting bums on saddles and smiles on faces.

Blankenship says: “What I hope to see is a lot of people riding our bike for the first time and returning from their ride with a huge smile on their face because they just experienced something they never expected.”