Wow.27% increase? That’s crazy. Why has it gone so much though?
Mixture of a lot of factors as I understand, but the cost of utility/fuel/wage/general cost rises coupled with demand for willow being at an all time high will only ever lead to price increases. Naturally when only one or two major players control the supply that also has an effect.
I think branding and zoning in on who your target market is must surely be what sets companies apart? That and customer service and a quality product of course. Out of interest, has having an hq made a big difference? I think some people still crave that.
Yeah no I couldn't agree more. Customer service and the end product for me is absolutely key, but until you've attracted the customer in the first place both of those don't even come into play. I know brightly coloured bats aren't for everyone so I'm very much targeting a specific market myself.
HQ wise, my sales for last FY (Jul 22-Aug 22) were still only something like 10.6% in-person, but having the physical unit definitely helps on the whole. Arguably more from a day-to-day logistical standpoint (lugging stock/orders up and down 3 flights of stairs in my old warehouse wasn't exactly ideal!) but it's definitely still the preferred option for some when buying kit. Funnily enough pretty much everyone that comes in to buy a bat makes the point about how they'd never buy a bat blind online, and most the time can't believe quite how high the % of online sales actually is.
Nowadays the younger generation have pretty much grown up with buying almost everything online so I find most don't have the same attachment to buying equipment in person as some of us do. Any youngsters coming in to buy bats tend to be accompanied by a dad who plays or has played before, and who wouldn't buy a bat blind online themselves.