217While manyE-bike brands are crowding to compete for the young user market, an E-bike brand from Shenzhen, China has taken a different approach. Instead of blindly following the trend to target young consumers, it has set its sights on the middle-aged and elderly market in the United States.
That brand isVelotric.
Image source:Velotric
From shared bikes toE-bike: The entrepreneurial story of Velotric
Reportedly,Velotric is a Shenzhen E-bike brand established in June 2021.
Its founderAdam Zhang was a co-founder of Lime. During his time at Lime, he participated in the operation and management of millions of shared electric bikes worldwide and witnessed the company's valuation surpass $3 billion.
After leavingLime and taking a year off, Adam Zhang officially founded the Velotric brand.
The brand did not follow the industry mainstream to compete for young users in North America, but insteadfocused onthe 50-70 year-old middle-aged and elderly group.
This group numbers about55 million, many of whom are middle class living in the suburbs. They generally have strong purchasing power, plenty of leisure time, and a clear demand for electric bicycles.
However, as their physical functions gradually decline, they find it difficult to engage in high-intensity exercise, but at the same time, they long to stay healthy and connect with nature through moderate activity.
Based on these insights,Velotric decided to focus on providing suitable E-bike products for the middle-aged and elderly in North America.
Image source:Velotric
User experience drives growth!
In April 2022, Velotric's first batch of E-bike products officially went on sale, achieving GMV of over $1 million in just 3 months.
After launching its independent site the same year, it set a GMV record of $15 million (about RMB 100 million) in just 7 months, becoming one of the fastest rising E-bike brands in the North American market.
Image source:Velotric
Content breakthrough:UsingTikTok marketingto win users
Winning the hearts of consumers depends on product strength, but if you don't promote your brand, how will people know about it?
Therefore,Velotric brand uses TikTok asan important marketing platform, continuously promoting its products.
OnTikTok, they have collaborated with many vertical influencers to promote, mainly in two content formats.
The first is the regular unboxing and review type.
TikTok tech influencer @colinwasson, with 283,000 followers, made an unboxing/usage short video for VelotricbrandE-bike products.
Image source:TikTok
In the video, influencercolinwasson shows the complete unboxing and assembly process. In just 38 seconds, he focuses on the core selling point of "easy and smooth" experience, quickly presenting multiple performance advantages of the product to viewers.
This concise product demonstration perfectly matches North American users' browsing habits on social media—simple, intuitive, and focused, allowing viewers to get key product information in the shortest time.
So even though the influencer's fan base isn't particularly large, the video achieved unexpected results after its release. So far, the video has exceeded1.4 million views!
Image source:TikTok
The second type is lifestyle scenario content.
For example, TikTok outdoor running influencer @thepositiverunner, who has 14,300 followers, shot a daily video interacting with his wife to promoteVelotricbrandE-bike products.
Image source:TikTok
In the video, the wife easily overtakes her running husband on Velotric's electric bike. The influencer jokingly captions: "I wanted her to run with me, but she rode the bike and left me far behind."
This humorous content close to family life attracted many users to watch and directly drove user inquiries:"How much? Where did you order it?"
Image source:TikTok
Channel synergy: Online independent site and offline dealer network
With social media platforms bringing in potential users, sales channels must also work hard to further drive purchase conversion.
To this end,Velotricbrandadopts a coordinated approach to online and offline channels.
Online, they established an overseas independent site as early as2022.
The independent site is fully designed with the shopping habits of middle-aged and elderly users in mind,with the homepage highlighting"Rider's Popular Choice" and "Best Value Choice", andsettinglimited-time offers to help users quickly filter products.
Image source:Velotric
In addition, the sitealsohas a dedicated section for real user reviews,whichfeatures1694 genuine feedbacks,helpingpotentialusersovercome doubtsand make purchase decisions faster.
Image source:Velotric
Offline, since2023, Velotric brand has entered the North American offline channel.
By2025, it has established a network of more than 1,200 independent bicycle dealers (IBD) across the United States, and the proportion of offline channel revenue continues to rise, gradually becoming the main engine driving brand growth.
Image source:Google
Conclusion
See, the overseas market is always full of surprises!
The story of Velotric tells us that sometimes the biggest business opportunities are hidden in corners others ignore. Those seemingly niche groups often contain amazing consumption potential.
But finding opportunities is only the first step. To truly open up the overseas market, you have to work as hard asVelotric, from product design to marketing... every step must closely follow the needs of your target users.
Remember: when you truly understand your users, success will come naturally!
