Dramatic title? It might sound pretty extraordinary but please here me out and I’ll explain.
For many retailers “The Stocktake” is a once a year activity. Something to be dreaded and with little purpose other than keeping the accountant happy. Incidentally, it’s often planned in at a time of year when many team members conveniently want to go on holiday.
Continue reading “Deprioritise stocktaking and you could be losing 20% of your turnover!”
With a back drop of a crazy two years that no one could have predicted, it might seem pointless trying to predict the next 12 months. However, we can’t let that stop us and here are my thoughts.
Covid-19 has had a huge impact on the golf market and, yet, it hasn’t been all bad. Just before things kicked off in February 2020, standing at the front of a room of 200 golf professionals, I made some bold statements: “…the golf market is very resilient. Whatever happens, it rarely changes from the long term average of more than + or -10%”.
Continue reading “Reasons to be cheerful in 2022”
If you run any type of retail business, cost will play a major part in your everyday life. Everything from negotiating the price of product you purchase to how much you pay for your phone lines. Business owners are constantly trying to work out what the right prices are for your business. One consistent theme in your mind will be, “Is the cheap option the right one?”
Continue reading “The Real Cost of Cheap”
In fact, clothing stores saw the largest sales hit during Lockdown 1.0 – losing 65% compared to the same period in 2019. In contrast, golf seemed to manage pretty well. Its innate Covid compliance – outside and well-distanced – meant that golfers could get out and enjoy the game. This attracted many lapsed golfers back to the sport and enticed some to take it up for the first time. All this play meant that golfers needed to buy kit but, with retail stores closed while golf was open, buying golf equipment and accessories became pretty difficult. Naturally most people jumped online to shop. Those retailers that could sell online had a bumper year while bricks and mortar stores experienced poor sales. Since the start of the pandemic, there’s been a huge shift towards online across general retail so, what could this mean for the golf industry?
Continue reading “Golf Retail: Click and Collect More Sales”
While February didn’t open up as hoped we have still seen quite a lot of sales activity. The market was down overall but amazingly one category was up!
Watch my short video on where we are for the month and where we might be going next.
While last week’s roadmap from the Government might have caused some disappointment, at least we now have a date to work towards. As it currently stands golf will be permitted on the 29th of March. Having lost, what will be close to 3 months of play and retailing, where does that leave us for the rest of 2021?
Continue reading “Don’t Panic 2 – LOCKDOWN UPDATE”
I have previously said, and am pretty sure everyone would agree, 2020 was a crazy year. We now need to have quick look at events from the worst of conditions in order to plan for what happens next.
While lockdown #1 effected the various regions differently, Golf lost nearly a 1/3rd of a year to COVID, and, while general retail lost even more, it really has been a bumpy ride for golf retailers. We hit a low in May, with retail sales, year to date, down 54% in value. However, a resurgence in the popularity of Golf, due to its COVID compliance, saw golfers, new and old, loving the game and spending their money. At year end, the speciality golf channel recovered to be only 10% down on the previous year. All things considered, this was an amazing result.
Continue reading “Don’t panic! 2021 could still be great”
I started this article before the Covid19 outbreak and was then conflicted as to whether I should continue writing with the ensuing carnage. Inevitably, the pandemic would have a significant effect on our personal and professional lives, as well as our future behaviour. So, I pressed the pause button on my previously planned feature and, as predicted, the global economy has since slipped into recession. Now 8 weeks into lock down and I’ve had plenty of time to put together my thoughts on a post-Covid golf retail industry. Continue reading “What is the Future for a Post-Covid Golf Retail Industry?”
Today I went online and searched up “reasons to be happy”. It was a real challenge to find anything positive. I came across one article from 2013 and another from May 2018. And that’s it. Hasn’t anyone felt the need to write happy stuff since then?
If you believe everything you read in the Press, we do seem to be experiencing some unhappy times in the retail sector. Hysteria, conflict and sensation sell newspapers, whilst stories of doom feed the television news channels.
Many retailers offer a loyalty card to customers to keep them coming back to the shop. Loyalty schemes can help give your customers an emotional connection with your brand with every transaction: deepening loyalty, and encouraging them to spend more. However, it’s essential to choose a program that will resonate with your customer base, or your business could miss out.
Loyal customers spend more money in shops than new ones. Plain and simple. A recent study by Harvard Business School found that a customer’s 6th purchase was, on average, 40% larger than his, or her, first: with the 8th being 80% more. Loyalty pays.
Loyal customers don’t just help your business because they spend more, however. According to Bain and Co., a 5% increase in customer retention can increase a company’s profitability by 75%. And, if those numbers don’t make you sit up and listen, a Gartner Groups study showed that 80% of a company’s future revenue will come from
Phil Barnard 