Hardware growth opportunities ahead for the golf pro

The Golf DataTech retail audit (July 2015) reveals an increase in the total value spent through the on-course channel from 56.5% in July 2013 to 60% in July 2015. With hardware providing one of the key drivers in growing the on course share of this category from 49.8% to 53.6% over the same period, that’s around a 7.5% increase in two years.

Crossover Technologies managing director, Phil Barnard says that a number of factors have contributed to this success.

“The first factor is custom fitting. This allows an individual pro to compete with larger golf retail stores because service and knowledge have become the drivers for sales, not large inventory levels.

“The second factor is the popularity of brands that have strong links with the golf pro. For example, Ping has long been a strong supporter of green grass retail and has had fantastic success with its hardware with some of the bestselling woods and irons over the last two years.

“We see that the combination of the pros wanting to engage more with their members and offer a better retail experience has led to these increased sales opportunities, which makes a great case for showing that a well managed pro shop providing the right product and service can succeed in this competitive market.”