5 Ways Your Team Can Win with Kit Management

The football season is just around the corner which means sales of club kits will start soaring. Combined with the global appeal of the sport, arguably more than ever, football clubs need to sharpen up their retail skills and get smarter at merchandising and stock management as a result of the volumes at play.  With clubs operating what amounts to small to medium retail networks both in their local vicinity through club shops, but also further afield and increasingly overseas, obtaining visibility and insight into the operation of the supply chain is essential. 

Importantly, this insight isn’t exclusive to retail sales.  As clubs have large academies and extensive team and playing staff, covering a gamete of ages and gender, stock also needs to be maintained to sufficiently kit out all those who need it. 

While professional clubs enjoy favourable terms as part of kit sponsorship deals with manufacturers, there’s lots of reasons why football clubs should take a closer look at the benefits of deploying a kit management solution which will assist with all aspect of stock management and merchandising.

Enjoy smarter commercial management

Understanding the stock needed for commercial purposes versus practical playing use is vital to maintaining optimum stock levels.  Excess stock will impact the bottom line, while too little could impact sales revenues and see teams without what they need. Clubs need to aim to achieve ‘goldilocks’ levels of kit supply for commercial and playing requirements.

Demonstrate commercial responsibility to sponsors

Closely managing stock and the amount of kit needed will demonstrate commercial responsibility to partners.  Sponsors don’t want to supply too much kit that could end up being unsold and returned or over supplying team and playing staff because kit is not looked after or the privilege even abused.

Be more socially responsible

There is an increasing trend amongst football clubs to demonstrate their positive role in the wider community.  Over ordering kit has far reaching consequences, from excessive materials used in production, to air miles and transportation contributing to climate change, even impacts on the low-paid workers where kits are manufactured.

Avoid excess warehousing

Kit is bulky and needs to be stored.  It is not uncommon for clubs to possess separate warehousing premises to hold stock to supply the various locations that need it.  Carrying too much stock adds to the cost of maintaining warehousing real estate and all the associated utility, personnel and sundry costs that go with managing it. 

Better team preparation

Players and coaching staff require a lot of kit – often dozens of items - both on match day and for training.  A kit management solution helps to trace where this kit is in the preparation process, receipting items in and out as players and staff receive them, even tracing and recording laundry status as kit is readied ahead of time.

The good news is that Ocean Dynamics has purpose-built an end-to-end kit management solution for professional sports clubs – not just football.  Built on Microsoft Dynamics 365 it’s a sophisticated solution that is ready to integrate with many of the other tools potentially at play in your business and gives you extraordinary insight into the finances and operations surrounding how you manage kit at your club.

We’re proud to have deployed it for one of North London’s leading premier league football clubs who operate it across both their retail and playing operations.

With new seasons on the horizon for a host of different sports and our fast-start services able to deploy the solution in only a matter of days, it’s a great time to look at the possibilities a kit management solution could deliver.

Learn more about our kit management solution here.  Alternatively, get in touch with one of the team to discuss the solution further.