September is often a key time for Golf Professionals who are responsible for buying items for the pro shop, and planning next season’s stock.

Buying is one of the most important responsibilities you have as a retailer, and misjudging quantities, or buying in the wrong brands or products, could hit your bottom line instantly. 

It’s your role to decide what the shop is going to sell, where stock is going to come from, and how much to order in.  Great buying requires a lot of commercial empathy and an appreciation of what your customers will buy.

To get this right, you need to understand your data. Here’s our guide to buy your way to a great bottom line.

 

The numbers are your friends

Never make a buying decision based solely on gut feel. Let the information from your EPOS software guide you: that’s what it’s there to do.

“The data from my EPOS is key to helping me run my pro shop”, says Dean Vannet, Head PGA Pro and Director of Golf at Banchory Golf Club, “I look at my sales figures every day to see which products and brands are doing well. Should I be focussing on different brands, and do I have space in the store for products I’m ordering?”

The basics for any purchasing decisions should include:

 

1. How many of that product did you sell last year?
2. How many are still in stock?
3. What profit COULD you have made?
4. What profit did you actually make?
5. How much discount did you give?

Answers to any one of these questions would help you, but combined, they make you a force to be reckoned with? Let’s see how.

 

SUPPLIER A: “You sold 85 pairs of shoes last year.”

GUT FEEL: “Sounds good to me!”

XPOS: Hold it! You purchased 85 shoes BUT only sold 50, and you still have 35 in stock.

 

SUPPLIER: “You made 38% on those shoes.”

GUT FEEL: “Wow, I’m happy with that.”

XPOS: Woah there! You COULD have made 38%, but because of a change in price and some discounts, actually you only made 30%. What’s more, you still have more to sell, which won’t be at full price.

 

SUPPLIER: “We’ve got fantastic new range coming out, and… even better news … if you buy 100, the unit cost will be less, so you could make 40% profit!”

GUT FEEL: “Better margin means more cash – why wouldn’t I want that?”

XPOS: In reality you only sold 50 shoes last year, and yet now you want to stock up with 100. Can you really double sales in just one year? If not, you won’t be hitting those 40% margins.

 

Your sales reports are telling you that you struggled to sell the shoes at full price last year and, although you think you can sell more this next year, you just don’t know.

 

Where’s that crystal ball?  

The numbers are not there to take away your gut feel for how something will sell, but they can add confidence to your decision-making.

 

Just don’t ignore any warning signs. If your reports are saying “Too much stock”, or “Too much discount”, be brave, and use the numbers to focus on the products and brands that are working for you. Similarly, if you’re having more success with [Supplier B] than [Supplier A], use that information to negotiate harder with [Supplier A].

Remember, it’s better to order more during the season, when you know your customers need it, rather than the start of the year, when you’re hoping they want it.

 

Crossover’s market-leading EPOS and business management solution, XPOS, was designed specifically for golf retailers.  Use XPOS reports to make better buying decisions and be a better retailer.