Summer is Almost Over
So, the summer golf season is almost over! Are you sad or happy? Sad because it’s almost over or because you did not get the business you expected? Or both?
As we all know, there are lots of marketing firms whose mission is to help you build a customer base and to be able to reach out to them. Judging from the The Wire from the Golf Press Association, many of you are signing up for their services.
While I recognize that getting golfers to the course is the single most important problem facing the industry today, I also know that many courses are doing an inadequate job of retailing.
The reason that most courses fail is that the inventory levels are not right to do the job. Most shops are overbought and the primary reason is a lack of planning. I heard long ago that “failing to plan is planning to fail.”
Without a plan, a retail buyer will buy as much inventory as possible (until someone screams) in order to ensure that there is plenty of selection. When this situation exists, a buyer will purchase more styles from more vendors that the golfers will purchase.
When there is a plan, a buyer is forced by the budget to make selections of vendors. It is then necessary for the buyer to review the performance of each vendor and make sure that the investment will be a wise one. That is simple math. If a buyer can spend $4,000 instead of $6,000 on shirts, then that person better be sure that the $4,000 is used in selecting vendors whose products have a high likelihood of meeting the tastes and price points of the golfers.
Sounds simple, doesn’t it? Well, it is! The problem is how does one proceed in developing a budget? That’s what My Golf Retail Guru does. I will help you develop a sales plan and then determine how much you should spend over the next year to meet that sales objective. Also known as Open-to-Buy. Together, we will pick the reports from your ePoS system that will help you make smart decisions about where to invest.
As we go through the year, we can make adjustments as sales fluctuate from the plan. The OTB plan will help prevent you from overspending, but, of equal importance, help you adjust the game plan before additional purchases arrive. Most of these unnecessary purchases become markdowns for the big end-of-season closeout. Your end-of-season close out will be much smaller, your profits will be higher and the investment will be smaller.
I had a retail client two years ago who came to me with this very problem. At the end of his season, he had a BIG sale for his local residents. At the end of the first year, he was unable to have the normal sale because the inventory selection was small (which was just what he wanted). Instead, he had a mystery discount sale for the residents where they selected an envelope with a discount percentage on a piece of paper. They were happy, but he was ecstatic.
The next year, he was able to afford to hire one more person which allowed him and his wife to take time off during their season and enjoy life. This was the first time they had been able to do so since they opened the store.
So if you are frustrated by the same result, year after year, and you don’t have a different game plan for the next year, NOW is the time to start the process. Give me a call and let’s make sure that next year is a much better year.
Alan Fisher is the leading expert on inventory management in the golf industry. He has conducted numerous seminars across the US and Europe for the golf industry and has authored numerous articles on maximizing retail inventory. If you would like to know more about how you can make your retail a profitable part of your business, please contact him at any of the following:
alan.fisher@mygolfretailguru.com
+1 619.723.4653 mobile
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