By ADAM SCHUPAK
Senior WriterSince Golf Datatech, LLC began gathering retail sales data for hardgoods in 1995, golf retailers have clamored for a better way to measure and understand the apparel category.
“We’ve only been asking about that forever,” said Jack Dillon, corporate director of retail for Meadowbrook Golf Group, an owner and operator of courses in several states.
The wait is over.
This month, Golf Datatech takes the first steps toward generating apparel sales reports by signing on- and off-course specialty stores to participate in the market research program. Tom Stine, a partner in the Kissimmee, Fla.-based research firm, planned to announce the launch of the long-awaited initiative Sept. 11 during the PGA Fall Merchandise Show in Las Vegas.
Apparel sales account for as much as 30 percent to 60 percent of sales for pro shops, Dillon estimated. Considering the impact apparel has on their businesses, retailers need help assessing the many and growing number of players in the category and covet information to manage inventories. Datatech’s efforts should help with these critical tasks.
“There’s not a lot of trend data out there,” said Paul Metzler, the PGA’s director of consumer marketing. “We’ll tie the data into our educational programs.”
The research reports will track market share, price points, inventory and distribution of apparel by having participating shops download monthly data from their point-of-sales systems to Golf Datatech. Retailers already enrolled in the company’s other research endeavors won’t need to add software, Stine said.
For its research sample pool, Golf Datatech is assembling a geographically diverse, representative mix of 300 to 500 key shops – including those from large resorts, high-end daily fees and private clubs – to ensure statistical validity
Data will be recorded for the following categories, each subdivided by brand and retail price point:
>> Men’s: shirts, sweaters, outerwear, slacks and shorts.
>> Women’s: shirts, sweaters, outerwear, slacks, shorts, skorts and skirts.
For this year Golf Datatech’s primary goal is to tally an annual sum measuring total industry-wide apparel sales at retail. In 2008 the firm plans to begin offering quarterly reports, and eventually to provide monthly sales reports.
Said Stine: “We have to walk before we can run.”
• • •
Adam Schupak is a
Golfweek senior writer. To reach him e-mail
aschupak@golfweek.com.
Posted: 9/16/2007
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