Premium British trolley manufacturer Stewart Golf has announced wholesale changes to the way they do business in Europe.
For many years the brand had pursued a conventional distribution structure for their premium X7 Lithium and F1 Lithium models in continental Europe, with exclusive distributors in all major markets. However this manufacturer-distributor-retailer-customer route meant that retail prices were often significantly inflated when compared to prices in the UK, which is still true of many brands in the industry.
CEO Mark Stewart said, “It’s simple for European golfers to buy from UK websites these days, so it doesn’t make sense to pursue a structure that keeps EU prices so much higher.”
Stewart Golf now aim to work directly with European retailers in the same way that they do in the UK, with no distributor in the middle. The saving made by removing the distributor margin is passed directly to the consumer, lowering the RRP so that UK & EU prices are much closer. There is also a new stewartgolf.eu website which displays € prices and details of retailers who sell Stewart Golf products.
“This change should benefit all parties; the retailer doesn’t have to justify why his prices are so much higher than UK retailers & the consumer can buy with confidence from their local store. We know this is the road less travelled so will take time to establish a network, but we believe it’s sustainable so are prepared to give it time.”
Stewart Golf will be exhibiting at Golf Europe 2013 on stand H1.310
Stewart Golf www.stewartgolf.co.uk
Golf Europe www.golf-europe.com/en.html