Foremost's guide to maximising retail campaigns

17/06/2024

Foremost Business Development Consultant & Education Lead Steve Bird offers some expert advice on making a real impact on your shop sales this summer.

Gone are the days of promoting a product by creating a nice display in-store and expecting it to fly off the shelf – 81 per cent of retail shoppers now conduct online research before buying a product (GE Capital Retail Bank) and around half of all purchases have been prompted by either an email or social media communication.

In 2024, the most successful PGA Professionals not only have an impressive shop, facilities, and team, they offer a first-class digital experience too. Let’s focus on maximising the two most common types of campaign: new product launches and key category campaigns.

The 8-stage gold standard for successful campaigns

Digital

1. Launch email or special email
2. Social media post
3. Website Feature
4. E-newsletter promotion

In-store

5. A-frame or external signage
6. In-store signage
7. Video promotion on screen
8. Feature display at front of shop

Capitalise on new product launches

Traditionally it has been the case that many PGA Professionals have missed out on the crucial early ‘honeymoon period’ of sales by not marketing a new product at the same time as bigger shops or online retailers that have their own marketing teams. This delay simply equated to lost revenue and giving a free pass to the competition. However, there are now companies/retail groups offering significant resource, services, and technology to help proactive professionals go toe to toe with these big retailers in terms of golf specific marketing, that they might not have the expertise or time to do themselves.

Ensure you have an early communication email (or dedicated special mail) that goes out right at the product launch. In addition, post to social media and make sure your website has informative text, pictures and videos of the product, as well as highlighting the advantages of buying from you. Think about what you do yourself when considering buying a product. Most of us go straight on to a website and research it – make sure that website is yours. Do not be scared to repeat the message in your weekly e-newsletter communications.

Once you have planted that seed with the customer and taken them through your digital journey, the job is only half done. Make sure you have clear call-to-actions on your website, for example ‘reserve yours now’, ‘enquire now’, or ‘book a fitting with us’.

Finally, when that customer drives to your shop and gets out of their car, make sure that you carry on the digital journey with a physical one. You’ve worked hard to set up the opportunity, now turn it into a sale. Use professional signage both outside and inside the shop (ideally backed up by an interactive screen showcasing the product) and create a display at the front of the shop which features that new product for at least the first couple of weeks after launch. The whole idea is to capitalise on the familiarity of the product you have already created for the customer, and piggy-back on the national advertising that will be generated by your supplier partner themselves. Think what the supermarkets do in this situation. The same people that shop there are walking into your shop too. We are all programmed to shop this way now!

Run meaningful campaigns

When somebody walks into a retail shop, the chances are they are at least reasonably serious about making a purchase. However, when a customer walks into a pro shop, a large percentage aren’t thinking at all about making a retail purchase. As a PGA Pro, your marketing and merchandising need to be first class to generate impulse sales out of somebody in ‘golf mode’.

If you have a category that hasn’t been performing too well (for example shoes for most people in 2023), then do something about it. At Foremost we created one of many campaigns this year to help members create a real focus around the category and sell more shoes at the start of the season – preserving margin by reducing the need to clear at the end of the year.

Having a small shoe display in the shop with all of the stock in the back room is not going to shout to customers that your pro shop is a genuine alternative to a high street superstore or big golf website. Get the stock out on the shop floor, create a display with real impact, use signage (both in-store and out) and train your staff to engage with customers that look at the display. This will also help you to sell the products you have in stock and cut down on making unnecessary additional stock orders.

“The Shoe Month Campaign has been a great success. We have sold over 30 pairs of shoes in the month of April which has really eased our stock concerns after the long winter. The members have also enjoyed receiving a discount by trading in their old golf shoes.” - James Wright, Head PGA Professional, Sandy Lodge.

Sometimes the success of a category’s sales is nothing to do with price. It is about providing a focus, showing golfers that your shop is a viable competitor to the big guns and running a campaign that gives the customer a reason to buy. You need both the digital and physical marketing working together to maximise sales. Most pro shops are limited in size and these displays can take up some space, so alternate which categories you feature in campaigns based around your stock holding and your annual marketing plan.

“Shoe Month has been a real talking point in the store with many members getting fitted for their golf shoes. We have also run the shoe trade-in with select suppliers which has allowed our customers to make a nice saving. This campaign will certainly be a yearly feature in my Campaigns Planner moving forwards.” - Tom Simm, Head PGA Professional, John O’Gaunt.