Episode Six: Fine-Tune the Fundamentals
There’s a lot going for golf retailers during October. With the focus on selling off summer stock, marketing your new Winter ranges and, of course, putting plans in place for Christmas, there doesn’t seem much room for anything else.
Despite the long to-do list this month, ultimately, you’re here to earn a living and optimising exciting retail tech, such as Xpos, is a great way to both save time and make more money. In the sixth episode of our PGA series, 7 Habits of Highly Effective Sports Retailers, we’re going back to basics with some great tips to ensure your retail business benefits from flawless foundations.
NOT JUST A TILL
While Xpos is great for making customer sales and producing receipts, the software was actually developed to help PGA members to grow their business profitably.
Used to its full potential, Xpos will do everything from helping you to manage suppliers, optimise spend, improve margins, manage customers, build loyalty, make better buying decisions and increase revenue year on year.
The system was built for pro shops and, over our 20 year history, every feature has been designed around the needs of the PGA Pro. You could say we know your business inside and out.
TIME SAVERS
Xcodes
A live industry database of over 2 million golf products, Xcodes feeds into your Xpos system, enabling users to create stock accurate items within seconds. When stocking in or stock taking, use the Xpos App on your phone, or Bluetooth scanner, to scan the product barcode. Xpos simply matches the barcode information to the live database and the item is uploaded with the brand’s product number, correct size and colour. One pro shop in Australia insists they’re able to save two days a month of admin time by using Xcodes.
Xpos App
There’s no escaping essential retail jobs, such as stocking in deliveries and regular stocktakes but the Xpos App makes light work of what can be time-consuming tasks. The App transforms your smartphone into a barcode scanner, meaning users can put inventory paperwork to one side and scan stock items as they walk around the pro shop.
Quick Keys
In Xpos, the Quick Keys feature is the go-to place to help retailers find their most popular products. Quickly. As well as saving you time, you can put your creative skills to good use and personalise your screen with colours. Tip: If you have slow-moving products, add them as a Quick Key shortcut and highlight them in a loud colour. A great reminder to your team to push these items at point of sale.
MONEY MAKERS
Customers
Xpos can help you manage multiple aspects of your pro shop business, including the relationship with customers. With easy online access, records can be maintained on any device and from anywhere in the world. More than just a contact list, retailers can email customer statements and keep in touch with customers with Xmail - the automatic marketing service linked to Xpos that has been proven to drive footfall and boost loyalty.
Finance
If your book keeper uses Xero’s accountancy software, the seamless link with Xpos will save you both time and money by eliminating possible errors. Your business will also be MTD compatible.
Suppliers and Brands
Get the best deals for your business by referencing key Xpos reports before a meeting with a supplier. For example, the Sales Analysis by Department Product Group by Supplier (DPS) will reveal your best performing brands and give you more confident about buying decisions you make. You could be turnover over more money with Supplier A but if your margin isn’t as good as with Supplier B, you’ve got a good excuse to negotiate more.
Case Study
Michael Kanev, Head PGA Professional, Kingsknowe Golf Club, Edinburgh
“Xcodes makes it so quick and easy to stock in new items. Also, stocktakes are very fast and accurate. The Xpos Caddie app allows members to search for items I have in store with up to date stock at all times. When new items are stocked in, they automatically get added to Xpos (as long as it’s in Xcodes). Also, the lesson booking feature in the Xpos Caddie app is amazing and saves me so much time that I’d otherwise have spent organising lessons”.
12 months of Xpos Stats
14,600 Stocktakes on the Xpos App
21,400 Stock Ins
346,211 Products downloaded by golf retailers from Xcodes to Xpos