Exclusive Retail Advice for February
With a fast-evolving market and increasing competition, planning to grow your retail business is more critical than ever and year on year growth is the foundation for success. In the first feature of our new series, "How to Grow a Pro Shop", we show you where to start.
How did you do last year? It’s an important question and not one that should be dismissed with a vague answer. If you don’t actually know how you performed, it’s likely you’re operating on a wing and a prayer. That might work for a while, but isn’t a sustainable way to run your shop.
With a little effort at this quieter time of year, you can start to make huge gains over the coming months and years. Making a plan now means more money in your pocket later.
The Importance of Planning
Growing your pro shop business offers many advantages, including increasing your revenue, benefitting from economies of scale and boosting customer satisfaction.
If you don’t plan to grow your business year on year, it’s more likely to fail. It’s as simple as that. You want to make more money, provide the best service and offer the best products but you also need to make as much profit as you can. If the shop is run properly, it should be the most profitable part of your business.
If you worked to a plan during 2023, by now you’ll be able to see if you met the targets you set yourself, by what percentage and areas in need of improvement during 2024. You’ll also know which brands worked best for you and, importantly, will now be in a position to make the best buying decisions for the future.
It isn’t enough to plan a week, or a month ahead. Start now and grow your business this year.
Key Success Markers
Turnover, margin and stock turn are your key indicators for success. Download our easy budget planner and add in the numbers from your Xpos system.
Push yourself. If you have a strong turnover but a weak margin, try to increase your turnover by 5% this year but make your margin your focus.
How to Hit your Targets
Look at the year ahead and tackle it head-on. Discuss potential activity with your team and create a calendar of events for the whole year.
How will you let golfers know about new products? Think about what you can utilise to spread the word.
- Drive football by sending personalised emails that showcase what you have for sale in the shop itself
- Collecting customer data at point of sale means you’ll be able to send targeted emails to notify them when preferred brands come into stock
- Xcaddie is a free app for Xpos retailers and puts your pro shop in your customers’ pockets. The fantastic ‘push notifications’ feature enables retailers to send a message to customers’ phones to advise them of new stock arrivals. Find out more about Xcaddie here.
Make your plan for 2024 and download your free budget planner HERE. Simply add in the numbers you'll find in your Xpos system and the calculator does the rest for you! Don't hesitate to get in touch if you'd like some help to make a budget. Email hello@xpos.co.uk