This month, Xpos are on a doom-busting mission to help golf retailers break free from the past and embrace proactive planning and budgeting for the year ahead.

According to Circana’s Golf Datatech, UK golf retail sales were down by almost -1.8% by the end of this summer. Thanks to good weather in August and an increase in play, there was a boost in sales of consumables, including balls (up +10%) and gloves (+4%) in units, across the on-course channel (pro shops).

However, the two biggest categories, woods and irons, performed badly with irons down -16% on 2023 and woods down -3% year to date – proof that golfers were out playing, but not spending.

With the Euro’s and Olympics on the calendar in 2024, it was always going to be a tough year for golf retailers. Add unpredictable weather, changing customer behaviours and global political uncertainty to the mix, and you can see why there’s a whiff of gloom in the air right now.

Understanding the relationship between how the market is fairing and your pro shop performance is key. If, like the market, you’ve had a poor year, it should help you to focus on buying better in the future. A new plan for next year is an opportunity to turn things around and do something different, rather than repeat the same mistakes.

A FLYING START

Always start the planning process with a clear idea of where you went wrong and what you did right over the past year.

If the market is down, where are you compared to this? If the shop has performed poorly this year, it may be that you didn’t buy from the right brands at the right amount.

Use your Xpos reports to look at the margin you made across your products and brands, as well as areas where you have left over stock. Use the Brand Statistics Report, which will highlight suppliers that aren’t working as well for you.

SPOTLIGHT ON TGI PARTNER MICHAEL KANEV, HEAD PGA PROFESSIONAL AT ABERDOUR GOLF CLUB, EDINBURGH

"This was my first year at Aberdour. It’s interesting how some brands do well at certain clubs and yet don’t work for others. Often the variances can be huge".

BUYING MECHANICS

I tend not to use too many suppliers and spread myself too thinly. I use my sales reports to help me select brands and geographical influences are important, too. We’re based near a Callaway fitting centre so I use that connection for hardware and the relationship works very well for sales.

In my previous club, one ball brand consistently outperformed the others. However, it’s my third best seller at Aberdour. The Brand Statistics report in Xpos is useful as it confirms what I’m seeing on the shelves.

Reviewing your margins is key. There’s no point re-ordering if we discounted heavily last year because things didn’t sell at full price.

GOAL SETTING

I’ve just changed clubs so don’t have historic sales data. Next year I’ll be able to analyse my own numbers and compare year on year sales. My plan is to grow by over 5% every year.

GROWING PLANS

It’s important to get behind the big events to create a buzz in the pro shop - not just about golf, but also clothing and equipment. Sweepstakes are always good fun to promote the events. When you work closely with two or three brands, you can get some great support when it comes to Pro’s days, prizes for events and merchandising.

With your new goals in the bag, it’s now time to make a plan and Xpos have created a brand-new guide to help you with the process. Download the new 2025 Pro Shop Budget Planner, which includes their popular budget calculator that does the hard work for you. Visit https://xpos.co.uk/budgeting/

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