Take a New Approach for 2025

No matter how your business has performed over the last 12 months, when it comes to buying stock for next year, you should think about the changes you can make.
Change is critical to keep your customers engaged and it helps you to focus on the key elements that make your business work.
In the second article in our Get Ahead of the Buying Game series, we’re taking a step back to get you thinking about why you make certain buying decisions. Plus, we give you four easy wins and practical tips to grow your business next year.
Define your brand
Your brand should establish the pro shop’s identity and reputation, helping to attract and retain customers by differentiating it from competitors and other channels.
People buy from people they like and trust. You may already be helping this by offering lessons and working with the club, but don’t forget your shop business should also represent who you are.
It may be your brand offers competitive pricing, or it could be quality products to improve your customers’ game. Perhaps you want to offer a wide range of hardware or focus on brands that you believe are the very best. Either way, pick a path and make sure your merchandising and marketing reflect that message.
** Quick Win **
Good merchandising is vital. Can your suppliers help you with great displays? If not, are there other brands that can?
Offer Alternatives
There comes a point in the buying process when your customers will weigh up their options. This could be price vs benefit, brand preference, or even a style or colour that hooks them in.
Your role, when buying inventory, is to put yourself in your golfers’ shoes. If they have concerns about price, you’ll need to be able to justify why the product is worth the money and offer a lower-priced option as required.
“Never do the same as last year. Take the numbers from Xpos, swap out the poor performers, and research which brands might work best for you moving forward”
Try to avoid stocking a group of products that have the same price and/or styles and/or colours.
** Quick win **
Involve your team and benefit from fresh perspectives. It’s also crucial that your staff understand the decisions you make about inventory.
Aim for Growth
Standing still is risky so be sure to set targets to grow your business. A tough year this year simply means you need to change things up for next year.
Use the Sales Analysis report in Xpos to see what your turnover and margin was – overall and per group. Use those figures to set targets for next year and plan to beat those. You may want to buy the same volume but from brands that could perform better, OR you might simply order more from the brands that performed best this year.
There is always a risk to buying, but using your Xpos reports will help reduce that.
** Quick win **
As a base line, you should aim to grow the business by at least 5-10% in turnover, increase your margin by at least 1-2% points, and improve your stock turn by 0.5.
Don’t rush
It sounds obvious, but the stock you purchase now will have huge consequences on how you perform next year. Give yourself time to make sensible decisions.
Never do the same as last year. Take the numbers from Xpos, swap out the poor performers, and research which brands might work best for you moving forward. Talk to three or four new suppliers and get the brands fighting for space in your shop.
** Quick win **
Use the Brand Statistics report to identify those poorer-performing brands. Red flags include low margins, high discounting and large numbers of left-over stock.
Darren Everett, Exeter Golf and Country Club
Darren Everett is the PGA Head Professional and Director of Golf at Exeter Golf & Country Club where he has worked for eight years.

Darren on Stock
Like other shops, we’ve been a bit scarred by the long winter and the late start to our summer season this year, which has shortened the sales window. I don’t have huge amounts of excess stock, but my goal is to get it down before Winter and we’ve cancelled some late season clothing drops. I use Xpos reports to confirm where we have too much stock. Our aim is to push that through before winter by moving product around, new signage and merchandising. I expect to discount some items, but I’ll limit this as much as I can.
Darren on Buying
The Brand Statistics Report allows me to see what has sold well and what is holding a good margin. I’ve decided to drop one clothing brand and test something new. We’ll also add a second footwear brand.
Xpos reports also make me more aware of the sizes we sell best across some products. As a result, I’ve ordered sizes based on my selling trends as opposed to just buying a standard size run and then being left with unpopular sizes at the end of the season.
Darren on Xpos
We moved to the new online system a month ago and I’m loving it. It’s easier to use than the last system and very intuitive.
Stocktaking is a completely different experience with the new Bluetooth scanner and Xapp Pro app. We did a complete hardware stocktake in just over four minutes this week. We carry four major brands but because everything is barcoded, it’s so simple. All the team has the app on their phones, and they love it.