xG3

Want to know where you sit in the xG3 retail revenue league tables?     How do your club’s retail revenues compare? Taking a slight detour from the #ClubShopRoadTrip, Mark Clements and I spent some time contemplating how to compare retail performance from club to club. We found that although detailed data relating specifically to individual clubs’ retail and merchandise performance isn’t freely available, some clubs do publish sufficient information in their annual accounts to extract enough to gauge relative performance. Through this xG3 can provide a benchmarking service to assess where your club sits amongst the pack.     We were concerned that raw retail data doesn’t give a clear picture of performance. It fails to consider both ‘footballing fortunes’ and regional spending power of the fan base. Promotion (particularly through play-offs), relegation and a cup run clearly have an impact on retail performance. Google ‘UK disposable income map’ to visualise the relative spending power of your fan base (spoiler alert, you’re probably not in for a surprise). Finally, different clubs have different boundaries for what is classed as ‘retail income’.     We start with raw retail data and apply a range of external factors to develop five metrics that then allow direct comparison of a club’s performance against others. Using those five key performance indicators we can give clubs a great indication of whether they are keeping up with the competition. And allow setting of realistic but ambitious goals for retail revenue growth.     Message me or Mark Clements on LinkedIn or email me on geoff@xgcubed.co.uk to arrange a time to push your numbers into our models and see where you sit in the xG3 retail league tables.     #RaiseYourRetailGame #FootballRetail #GrandadLaw #GoalsGameplanGrowth

#ClubShopRoadTrip – insights recap Half-way through our series of six xG3 insights based on our visits to football club shops across the divisions, here’s a quick summary for those catching up or looking for a short cut to key points: 1.     First impressions count; our first theme dealt with building (and maintaining) the sense of anticipation before a visit to the club shop 2.     Welcome and interaction; topic two covered the simplest ways to help your retail team engage with visitors 3.     Story-telling and heritage; third I considered the opportunities offered by merchandise, memories and experience to deliver a sustainable income stream Over the next couple of weeks look out for the posts that will complete the set of six: 4.     Product range curation 5.     Data collection, management and usage 6.     Reasons to talk about the visit and share You can get quick access to all xG3 posts using #RaiseYourRetailGame in the LinkedIn search bar. Try #ClubShopRoadTrip for the posts specific to our store visits. The xGcubed retail audit will weave together six individual threads of change into a clear action plan to grow your retail and merchandise income. From what we’ve heard from football clubs we look primarily for opportunities that carry little risk in terms of investment required, fit with the talents that you’d expect from a high street retail team and, most importantly, don’t require any radical / infrastructure changes. Contact Mark or Geoff Kershaw to book your expert-led retail store audit. #GrandadLaw #FootballRetail #GoalsGameplanGrowth

#ClubShopRoadTrip insight 3: How well does nostalgia sell? The heritage, culture and history of the club all have value. Few get to offer replicas of their Champions League winning shirts, but fans of every club have defining moments that sealed their love. What are the five most memorable highlights of the last 30 years or so of your club’s history? How are they represented in the retail experience that your team are offering? Retro shirts might be pinnacle of the potential revenue generation options for some clubs, but are there some lower risk / investment alternatives that could provide a valuable ‘bonus’ income stream? Then what about the shop environment itself? What opportunities are you giving to fans to connect with their memories? Build a sense of excitement? Create an experience to remember – and share. Geoff Kershaw and I saw a mix of endeavours to connect shop visitors with the emotion and excitement of matchday and the history of the club. From cleverly making the shopfloor the pitch to look up at packed stands to a phenomenally detailed timeline of the club’s history spanning the whole perimeter of the store. To nothing. Getting it right for all might be impossible, but right or wrong, fans will never be indifferent – and the least that you will do is create talking points. In our digital age that exposure can be so valuable in increasing footfall, traffic, engagement and ultimately income. No mention for #GrandadLaw? Of course not! Not only are you giving great reasons to buy something, but with a little creativity and planning you can provide great reasons for visitors to come back again – and tell others it’s worth visiting too. Contact Mark or Geoff to talk about how xG3 can provide low risk solutions to help to #RaiseYourRetailGame #FootballRetail #BeatPSR

How do your retail team ‘meet & greet’ visitors to your shop? That question could probably form the second of the six insights from the xG3 #ClubShopRoadTrip on its own. I suppose the follow up might be ‘How do you want your retail team ‘meet & greet’ visitors to your shop?’ Some context to provide a framework for your thoughts: What are your goals for your customers’ online retail experience? If that’s around reach and convenience, what does your club shop – and your retail team – do to complement, develop or improve on-line experience? How does it take fan engagement to a more personal level with the club? A couple of anecdotes from our recent road trip … In one shop Geoff Kershaw and I spent 15 minutes chatting to another visitor about his favourite of the new season’s kits. We helped him work out that the one he liked best was the goalkeeper’s 3rd jersey. All whilst three members of staff that sat behind ‘their’ counter having a chat between themselves. He left empty handed. In another a grandfather explained to each of the other three sets of visitors in turn that he bought a present for his grandson most weeks (lucky thing). As a season ticket holder he’d decided to get him something from the club shop this week. The only person he didn’t tell was a member of staff. Again, they were ‘busy’ behind their counter. I couldn’t help feeling an opportunity was missed to plan another few presents for the coming weeks. #GrandadLaw says a warm welcome and an available ear are essential components of the retail experience. Geoff Kershaw has been training retail teams for 30 years to make their customers feel welcome. His advice? ‘Meeting and greeting can be daunting. My top tip is whatever your opening line, say it with a smile. Smiles are free, infectious and need no training to deliver.’ xG3 will put building the talent and confidence of your existing team at the heart of our action plan to #RaiseYourRetailGame. Contact Mark or Geoff to learn more. #FootballRetail #GoalsGameplanGrowth

First impressions count. Seems the obvious place to start with our six themes for retail growth, developed on our #ClubShopRoadTrip. It’s such a well-used phrase, but what does it mean for modern retail? In Grandad Law’s day it was about an eye-catching window display that appealed to his regular customers and passing traffic alike, enough to tempt them over the threshold. But how does it apply for a football club, from season ticket holding fanatics, through casual fans and to occasional, even one-off visitors or tourists with little connection to the club looking for a one-off gift or memento? An xG3 retail audit will start with who the customer is and consider the different reasons for their visit. We’ll work backwards from them actually standing at the door. What was the customer’s journey to get there? Where does the ‘first impression’ start, if it ends at opening the club shop door? We’ll be looking to answer these questions to before moving on to whether your visitors ·      Had a straightforward, signposted journey to their destination? ·      Arrived with a sense of anticipation? ·      Found a frontage that suggests a sense of promise to be fulfilled? Most importantly are in the mood to shop? In the mind-set to spend some of their hard-earned cash? The output of our retail audit will weave together six individual threads of change into a clear action plan to #RaiseYourRetailGame and grow your retail and merchandise income. To develop those threads or themes on our club shop tour Geoff Kershaw and I looked primarily for opportunities that carried little risk in terms of investment required, fit with the talents that you’d expect from a high street retail team and, most importantly, didn’t require any radical / infrastructure changes. Contact Mark or Geoff to book your expert-led retail store audit. #GrandadLaw #FootballRetail #GoalsGameplanGrowth #FirstImpressionsCount

Grandad Law. Four basic principles of retail that I don't think you'll find anywhere else on the internet because colour TV was still to be invented when they were ingrained into my family culture. For me, they have stood the test of time and suited me well, both in retail and subsequent roles. 1. Give folk a great reason to cross your threshold. 2. Make them feel welcome; be available to help and advise if needed. 3. Give great reasons to buy something. 4. Give better reasons to come back again. And tell their friends that they should visit too. Basic. Straightforward. Just ‘common sense’? Even a little bit ‘simple’. But getting them right most of the time will build strong foundations for a successful retail enterprise. With a bit of a tweak, they even work for digital ventures. Thanks to (Grandad) Walter Law, greengrocer. Want some help building a retail action plan that delivers more revenue? Contact Mark or Geoff Kershaw to book your expert-led retail store audit. #RaiseYourRetailGame #GrandadLaw #FootballRetail #BeatPSR #GoalsGameplanGrowth

Club shop road trip. Geoff and I had a great time visiting several football club shops to test the xGcubed retail audit process. It was eye-opening to see first-hand the diverse approaches that have been taken to the brand and income opportunities available. From the different levels of emphasis and investment we found six common themes, each capable of making a real difference to our experience. Contact Mark or Geoff to explore the growth opportunities that your club could benefit from amongst those six themes. Alternatively, book your expert led retail store audit and begin to build your bespoke gameplan to deliver new revenue generating retail and merchandising opportunities to #RaiseYourRetailGame #FootballFinance #FootballRetail #BeatPSR #GoalsGameplanGrowth

Yes, it’s too early for Michael Buble, but it’s never too early, or late for seasonal planning. I have been involved in two Black Friday/Cyber Monday discussions with retailers in the last few weeks and both conversations reminded me of my days selling chocolate advent calendars. And a planning cycle that started some 15 months ahead of Black Friday. But back to today, I thought it might be useful to share some of the points we discussed. We started by identifying our campaign objectives: ·     Generating incremental cash profit ·     Delivering an outstanding customer experience ·     Growing the database and social followers Profit not sales, focussing on customers, building for the long term. We then went on to explore the guiding principles behind the detail. Plan like a pro ·     Plan well ahead, whatever that means for your business. ·     Have the right product, in the right volume at the right price. ·     This means more margin. And more profit to reinvest. Customer, customer, customer ·     It must be about what is on the customer agenda not the retailers.  ·     This means good value gifts, especially exclusive ones. ·     It's not an excuse to clear your excess stock, that’s not the customer agenda. Focus on building trust and long-term relationships ·     Don’t run different offers in store and online for the same categories. Do run in store and online exclusives that are clearly highlighted as such. ·     Don’t make offers overly complex, make it easy to shop and pay. Give them a good deal and a great brand experience. ·     Reward loyalists, not ‘brand new customers only’. Give those already on the database early access to deals. Reward new customers if they spend and sign up. Major on brilliant service and expertise ·     Price is a hygiene factor, a big one but it shouldn’t be the only factor. ·     Delivering great service in store and online will lead to more opportunities to upsell and increase average transaction values. ·     Give them a good deal and a great brand experience. (Yes, it’s deliberately in here twice!) Make it exciting and fun ·     In the world of football retail it’s all about the relationship the fan has with their beloved club and their favourite players. Not Black Friday. ·     Make communication personal wherever you can. ·     Use anticipation, build your database ahead of the event, let your customers plan their shopping in advance. A fan is for life, not just for Black Friday so don’t focus on the day, aim to be part of their shopping trip year after year. And Match Day after Match Day. If you’d like to discuss any of this or just want to offer a different POV, give Geoff or Mark a shout. Oh, and don’t forget it’s never too early, or late for planning! #RaiseYourRetailGame #FootballFinance #FootballRetail #BeatPSR #ARFF

https://lnkd.in/eht5zWvb Learning from a 22,000 employee global digital sports platform The Stephen Dowling article in FC Business issue 159 (Fanatical About Fans) is packed full of insight based on his career that has taken him to his current role as Fanatics’ International President. The last few paragraphs deal with three tips for where growth in football merchandise will come from. Distilling that to a bite-sized chunk, ponder these three questions in the context of your club’s shop and product portfolio: ·      How has your retail model evolved to appeal to women? ·      What are you doing to take advantage of your fans’ desire for fashionable clothing outside of official replica strips? ·      Is your fans’ hunger for memorabilia and collectibles satisfied by your current product offering? Want some help in defining and prioritizing the opportunities that will result in future growth? Then building an action plan that delivers? Contact Mark or Geoff to book your expert led retail store audit and start your journey to find and deliver new revenue generating opportunities and #RaiseYourRetailGame #fcBusiness #FootballRetail #BeatPSR #GoalsGameplanGrowth