The Golfalot.com Price Index remained calm in November with small falls across the majority of categories as the industry prepares for the important festive period. A fall of -0.1% nevertheless sees the index with year to date growth of +1.3%.
The Golf Clubs sector fell by -0.1% as only Golf Irons posted positive returns this month with falls in the average price of Drivers, Fairway Woods, Utility Clubs, Wedges and Putters typical of price competition across the board heading into Christmas. The Golf Irons sector was boosted by the entry to the Index of the new Mizuno JPX825 and JPX825 Pro range of irons resulting in a +0.5% rise.
Despite this rise Golf Irons have been one of the poorer performers of 2012 and this welcome boost sees the category back on par for the year to date. Drivers was the biggest faller in the Golf Clubs sector this month, down -1.2%, as there was significant discounting across a number of manufacturers and brands in anticipation of both new releases early in 2013 and competition in this flagship category. Fairway Woods (-0.3%), Utility Clubs (-0.2%), Wedges (-0.3%) and Putters (-0.1%) all saw small falls however these did little to dampen a positive year for Golf Clubs with year to date growth of +2.1%.
The Golf Accessories Sector saw the average price fall across all of it categories in November as retailers clearly positioned themselves for the key Christmas spend. Golf Balls (-1.35%), Golf Bags (-0.2%), Golf Shoes (-0.5%) and Trolleys (-0.1%) followed the trend set in 2012 which has proved to be a hard year for the Accessories market. Year to date figures tell a similar story with Golf Balls (-3.6%) Golf Bags (-1.7%), Golf Shoes (-0.8%) all down over the last 12 month period with only Trolleys bucking this trend with growth of +0.5%.
Despite this we have seen much innovation in the Accessories sphere especially amongst Golf Shoes with FootJoy being the latest to introduce a new casual style shoe, the Contour Casual range, which entered the Index for the first time this month.
Despite the Index falling this month, it is clear from the optimism displayed at the industry show inHarrogateand the number of new product launches in the coming months, that we enter a key period of the retail year in good shape.
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