- Golf Datatech have taken a forensic look at the sales data so you don’t have to.
December sees the end of a difficult trading year for retailers in general. The final three months, often referred to as the Golden Quarter, saw minimal growth for retail in general of only +0.4%. Sales for the month saw a growth of 3.2% compared to the same period last year, which on the surface looks good for the retail industry. However, digging down a little reveals that a part of this relates to the re-positioning of Black Friday from the 24th last year to the 29th of November this year there by splitting sales between both November and December. So, sales for the entire year grew by only 0.7% compared to the year’s inflation of 2.5%, putting pressure on profitability.
From a golfing perspective we cannot blame December’s weather. It was generally better than last year with most of the country experiencing temperatures above average. Rainfall was considerably lower for England particularly in the south while Scotland was little different. Skys were overcast, which is normal for the time of the year. Ball sales a good indicator of the state of play were up by +6.7% again suggesting that golfers were out on their courses but not dipping too far into their wallets. So, it is the economy that is still holding down customers willingness to invest. Especially in higher price point items which normally accounted for the largest share of the marketing mix thereby pulling-down total sales values.
Economic concerns are perhaps highlighted by the fact that October (budget month) saw the biggest drop for many months. While November was -0.9 and December just broken even compared to last year at +0.8%.
Looking in a bit more detail three out of the four product groups performances showed growth from +0.8% for apparel to +15.3% for light durables. Only clubs failed to break even at -5.8%. Probably being affected by their higher price points and some anticipation of next year’s launches. Year to date figures over the last three months showed a similar pattern with things picking up after October. The year finally finishing at -1.9% – almost exactly in line with our prediction of 2% down at the start of 2024.
Over the year only two product groups showed growth over the year: consumables and light durables. Looking at the various subgroups, we find seven out of the eleven equipment categories showing growth from +0.9% for trolleys to +25.4% for club packs. The four failing to break even were gloves, wedges, woods and irons. All but one of the apparel categories was down for the year. With only Tops showing some growth at +1.7%
The picture for the future seems far from rosy. The new government has warned us of a tough road ahead. This will give consumers little encouragement to go out and spend. However last year got off to a terrible start with rain dominating the weather for the first 5 months. If we can get a warmer dryer March and April there may be some sunshine behind the clouds. All in all, it’s important for golf retailers to study the data making certain that the majority of their stock is in those products which are going to sell and generate the greatest profitability. GR
Golf Datatech is a Circana Company and the leader in golf industry research. It provides the trade with specialised market research covering retail sales, inventory, pricing, distribution, along with strategic sales and marketing consultancy.
Golf Datatech research is based on millions of transactions per month, all recorded by EPOS systems at the point of sale.
For greater detail contact John Hassett on 07976 797081
