My Golf Retail Guru and Pellucid Corp. are joining together to provide retail analysis to the Pellucid suite of products and services. Pellucid provides independent, unbiased, fact-based consumer information and insight against key issues in golf. Adding retail is a natural step forward for Pellucid and I am pleased that we are jointly providing the […]
This is an important retail distinction that your ePoS system should handle properly. A markdown is a devaluation of a product based upon its inability to be sold at the original planned selling price. A discount is a reduction in the price of an item or transaction based upon the customer making the purchase. Examples […]
OTB (Open-to-Buy, not Off Track Betting)
As I wrote earlier, setting prices can have a short-term impact on improving retail health. However, there is another important aspect that can lead to long term improvement of your retail shop. Open-to-Buy is what is needed. If you have knowledge of spreadsheet capabilities for adding and averaging, this should […]
If you are like most golf retailers, you probably need to review some basics tenets of accounting to understand accounting’s impact on some of our decisions. Specifically, we will address the Profit and Loss Statement. Rather than think about dollars on the P&L, focus on the percentages.
The first sermon relates to how we read […]
I can certainly think of a lot of snide remarks about this one!
We’ re losing money, but we make up for it in volume.
First, let’s define what a Mill River Plan is. In some private clubs, members fork over $100 to be able to purchase merchandise at cost plus 10%. According to my math, that […]
Whenever I work with a new client, they usually lack profits and have excessive inventory. The excessive inventory is a longer project, usually taking six months to one year to get on track. That step involves the establishment of a sales plan and an Open-to-Buy plan.
However, there is a quick fix that can have a […]
Remember our two merchandise buyers from last month? One held out for higher profits and the other unloaded and reloaded. Another major benefit of the second approach was that there was fresh merchandise coming in to the shop throughout the year and it attracted potential customers to come in to see the new inventory. The […]
Last month, I pointed out that most golf retail systems were focused in the wrong direction when it comes to inventory management. So what is missing? A lot of valuable statistics, that’s what.
But if I could only have one statistic from a retail package, it would be the Stock Turn Rate (STR) and you should hear the Hallelujah Chorus in the background when these words are spoken. It measures how many times an invested dollar is sold over a year.
As a veteran of systems sales in both golf and specialty retail, I am amazed to see what many software providers believe inventory management is. I guess I should not be surprised since many of these companies have sought the advice of customers to build and modify their products. Let’s face it; green grass golf retailers did not get into the business to open a retail store. They did it because the golf course had to have a place to collect green fees and sell some products needed by golfers. Retail experts, they are not. But don’t feel slighted; most retailers have little more insight into inventory management.