May Pro Shop: Retail Tips
According to Golf Datatech, May is often the best month of the year for UK pro shops when it comes to on-course, and general, sales. And, as customers give in to the temptation of new equipment, and the promise of improved play, it’s also usually the number one month for woods.
Unsurprisingly, the months of April through to August account for more than 50% of the UK market for UK pro shop sales: with the winning month often depending on new product launches and the great British weather. These months are all about selling and are crucial to your year-end bottom line.
Have a plan for each of the summer months to ensure you stay on track when it comes to stock management and business objectives.
You’ll be rushed off your feet for the next few months and, during busy times, it’s easy to forget important retail must-do’s. Have a plan for each of the summer months to ensure you stay on track when it comes to stock management and business objectives.
Here are our 5 top tips for retail brilliance this May
- Get Creative with New Stock
Selling new stock is your number one priority so ensure it’s on display. We’d recommend a rethink of the floor plan in order to ensure new stock catches the attention of customers and isn’t mixed in with old merchandise.
Use adverts and social media to promote new items to customers. If you don’t tell them about it, they won’t know it’s there.
- People Power
Delegation is an essential skill that will maximise your productivity, help you to prioritise better, and free up your time so you can make the big decisions needed to run a successful retail business. Make sure employees are trained, informed and busy.
- Embrace the Big Events
Pro Shops usually see a fall in profits of around 16% during the World Cup so, don’t let the big events affect your profits this year.
Ensure customers see your club, and pro shop, as the venues “of choice” to watch the high-profile tournaments such as The World Cup, The Open Championship and Ryder Cup. Run themed events, tailored promotions, and ensure a TV is always on, to keep members and visitors coming in during these events.
- Run Reports for the Right Orders
When you’re busy in the shop, and selling is currently your priority, you may not be thinking about placing orders for next season. However, you’ll be asked to do this soon, so, before you do, make sure you run the relevant reports from your XPOS system.
The management system in XPOS is second to none, so make the most of the valuable information available.
- Try running a Stock Valuation and Turns report in XPOS, which breaks down sales and shows you what you're going to run out of.
- Similarly, a Supplier Statistics report is a good one to check before you receive any pre-ordered drops, or place new orders.
You may think you know which stock has flown out of the door, and what hasn’t sold, but a report based on actual sales, might surprise you.
- Build a Customer Picture
May is a good time to remind yourself who your customer is. Capture customer data against every sale (remembering your marketing permissions of course) and start to build a picture of exactly who is buying from you, and what they want to purchase.
Everything you need to do this can be found in XPOS, so when you make a sale, ensure you log it against the customer account. It won’t take long to build a profile of your customer-base which will enable you to make smarter buying decisions, and you’ll soon see stock flying out the door.
Plan ahead for the next few months. A summer strategy will help you to stay ahead of the game, get the most out of your team, and prevent poor, knee-jerk buying decisions for the months ahead.
We’re keeping our fingers crossed for a great season.