You are in:
SGB Sports Retail Survey
Detailed survey coverage to be published in the December/January issue of Sporting Goods Business
We wanted to know:
- Whether you trade online
- What sports are selling well
- What you think about trade shows and which ones you attend
- Whether you are a member of a buying group
- Your market forecast
- What you think of Sporting Goods Business as a magazine
It is always good to talk, but sometimes it is more important to listen; to those who are close to you, to your colleagues, customers, suppliers and as a magazine, to your readers.
That is exactly what we have done with the SGB Sports Retail Survey. We commissioned independent specialists DT Marketing to contact over 1,000 independent retailers in the UK and Ireland so we can hear what the market is saying. We wanted to discover what you, the retailers and our readers, think about the pressing issues facing the sports retail trade today.
Our questions - Your answers
Every which way - by post, online and even over the telephone - we have asked the UK and Ireland's sports retail trade over 40 questions with a view to providing the trade with a comprehensive and pertinent survey.
The questionnaires are now in, and in the true spirit of audience participation, of reader interaction, the votes are being counted and verified.
In the next issue of Sporting Goods Business - December/January - we will bring to you detailed coverage of what you are saying to us. While final numbers are still being crunched, here is a taste of what is to come:
Is it over or not?
It seems that in the current ‘is it over or isn't it' economic atmosphere, independent sports retailers are gritting their teeth and holding their own in the recession:
- 67.4% of sports retailers said their profitability had either stayed the same or gone up in the last 12 months
- 72.6% of sports retailers predicted that business will stay the same or get better over the next 12 months
As ever, competition from the big discounters presents major challenges, and the strengthening of key buying groups was cited as the best way to draw stronger support from the major brands.
Reading matter
At Sporting Goods Business magazine we are delighted to learn that SGB is the most widely read magazine in the sports trade:
- 78.7% of sports retailers reading Sporting Goods Business
- 67.3% of sports retailers read Sports Insight
- 6.1% of sports retailers read Drapers
We have also received a raft of insightful comments and observations about what retailers want to read in the trade press, and how our editorial could help your business. We are taking on board everything you have to say.
Painting the trade by numbers
To carry out the Sports retail Survey, SGB commissioned DT Marketing, an independent marketing consultancy. The survey was managed by Deborah Trott, who has nearly 20 years of marketing experience and is a former Head of European Marketing for New Balance Athletic Shoes.
In addition to distributing the survey online and via direct mail, DT Marketing undertook a series of one-to-one telephone interviews with retailers from a variety of affiliations and geographic locations. This was done to gain information concerning retail operations, to obtain detailed views on relevant strategic issues.
All survey responses are strictly non-attributable.
"They say the two most important things in business are to listen to your customers, and then listen again," says Trott. "This is what we have done: we have given every independent sports retailer the opportunity to comment, to have a voice and to have their say."
