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Harry Arnett Blog on Releases/Inventory

SuperStroke
Thanks for the link. Interesting to get Callaway's perspective on it.
 
I think it is great in that Harry and the rest of crew keeps us all up to date with what, when and why.
 
Interesting read, thanks for sharing.
 
Saw his tweet during lunch and read the article right off. Great stuff and put together very well. Haters gonna hate, but businesses and market strategies will always evolve. I thought it was great information and a good look inside the industry.

JM
 
Read that last night, very interesting read.

What is more interesting is that Harry felt the need to put that out there. I have never seen another industry have to defend putting out new products, so it is very strange to me that a company has to explain putting new tech into the market.

I think it was a brilliant stroke and explains quite a bit, but unfortunately I think the people that are "up in arms" will not change their position in the slightest.
 
Interesting information. All I can say is there are a lot of confused buyers out there. Not every golfer in the world hangs out on this website so many will not understand what is going on. One guy I talked to said that it may take him a year to purchase a full set of woods because he will only get one at a time. His problem was he purchased a fairway wood at the end of its life cycle and when he returned about six months later, he could not get the matching woods. Just saying.
 
mancest said:
Read that last night, very interesting read.

What is more interesting is that Harry felt the need to put that out there. I have never seen another industry have to defend putting out new products, so it is very strange to me that a company has to explain putting new tech into the market.

I think it was a brilliant stroke and explains quite a bit, but unfortunately I think the people that are "up in arms" will not change their position in the slightest.
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I actually sent him that exact text message.
Sometimes being out in the public leaves you having to do things that are pretty ridiculous.
At the same time, transparency, while knocked repeatedly by a select few that like to believe they are important, is the best way to go about things.
 
I enjoyed the read for sure. Refreshing.
 
A great read!
 
Good read. Thanks for posting!
 
If they could fit that in a 30 second commercial, it would build a lot of good will.

~Rock
 
Very good read from Harry. Sounds like he had a team preparing for their marketing and stock control plan almost as much as the hard goods design teams. Glad they're learning from the mistakes of others. Many people/companies don't do that...
 
Definitely interesting and informative. I like the way Callaway is going about marketing the new line.
 
This was a great read, and a good look into what they're doing over in Carlsbad. Honestly, the fact that they are able to iterate and release new projects without leaving a ton of excess inventory in their wake says a lot for their process. I also hadn't thought of the changes to the PGA schedule resulting in a bit of a shift in how things are released as well.

Look forward to seeing what they've got coming in the future.
 
mpeterson said:
This was a great read, and a good look into what they're doing over in Carlsbad. Honestly, the fact that they are able to iterate and release new projects without leaving a ton of excess inventory in their wake says a lot for their process.
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Not buying it, not a bit.... I see every week how much Cally inventory is still in store and then intro 2-3 new Bertha versions with 815, v series, and no price drops on the current inventory. We still have plenty of new X2, sorry, and just my opinion which means little....but not believing it, straight propaganda from Carlsbad.
 
Dgvillere said:
Not buying it, not a bit.... I see every week how much Cally inventory is still in store and then intro 2-3 new Bertha versions with 815, v series, and no price drops on the current inventory. We still have plenty of new X2, sorry, and just my opinion which means little....but not believing it, straight propaganda from Carlsbad.
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Don't think you were the person this article was meant to address. It appears from you response that you are in the business as well as maybe work as a salesman in a golf store. Unless you are the decision make for the company, you have no choice to accept what is on the shelf and the levels at which it is kept. If you are privy to it, then the levels of which your shelfs are stocked are directly related the the profit you are trying to seek. Less product less profit, more product more potential to make profit. Callaway appears to be doing the same here but helping to limit the mark downs and profit loss for those that choose to carry it's brand.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I have been a skeptic of this launch schedule and those of Taylor Made.Harry's explanation made great sense in many ways.I hope it works. It looks like it will. I have been in three major golf retailers in SoCal the last couple of days and they love Callaway for keeping a buzz going on their sales floor.Consider me open to change.
JB said:
I actually sent him that exact text message.
Sometimes being out in the public leaves you having to do things that are pretty ridiculous.
At the same time, transparency, while knocked repeatedly by a select few that like to believe they are important, is the best way to go about things.
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I enjoyed the read. Neat to see the insight a little into what they are doing. It sounds like they have a good plan for things but only time will tell.
 
Dgvillere said:
Not buying it, not a bit.... I see every week how much Cally inventory is still in store and then intro 2-3 new Bertha versions with 815, v series, and no price drops on the current inventory. We still have plenty of new X2, sorry, and just my opinion which means little....but not believing it, straight propaganda from Carlsbad.
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There's a difference between store inventory levels and Callaway's inventory levels. As long as the company can avoid having thousands and thousands of drivers sitting in a warehouse somewhere, they can avoid getting in a ton of trouble, even if they have to buy back stock from stores. You want to manufacture as close to on demand as possible. TM's issues at least partly stem from making too much - look at all the ARP stamped stuff you see at great discount.
 
This was a great and interesting read. As soon as I saw the tweet from Harry I jumped on the link.
 
Harry again with a great read. The concepts, if executed well, can lead the industry out of this funk with decaying old discounted product. Only time will tell.
 
I have spent a good part of my life in the supply chain generally and inventory management specifically. Managing inventory for short-life products, particularly in stores is challenging without being willing to markdown to clear excess inventory. World-class forecasting for FAST MOVING items at a chain level is a 10% MAPE (mean absolute percent error) and for slower moving items (<10 per week) chain MAPE is more likely in the 20% range. That translates to store level MAPE of 100% or more. What that means is that store level demand is highly variable and requires higher levels of inventory than demand to capture volatile sales (safety stock). If a product has a short-life, that excess inventory is usually marked down at end-of-life to clear.

I read the article and I will say it sounds more like a company line than a reality based on my experiences. I have heard plenty of retailers and manufacturers, having been caught with clearing excess inventory, state that they have now tightened inventories and don't have a problem. That usually manifests in stock outs, shortages and lost sales. One can say that one forecasts better but the reality is, particularly for store demand, that underlying demand volatility cannot be forecast.

What I don't know is whether TM or other manufacturers provide markdown monies to the retailers to help clear excess goods and, if they do, the magnitude of those monies. I can assure you that if they are shortening the product-life and do not, retailers will be very cautious in taking positions in those shorter-life products unless the margins are huge.
 
Another spin from a big manufacturer, and time will tell if this vision takes.

It seems like it was not long ago that the BB Alpha was the go to driver....and now it's the BB Alpha 815 or Black Diamond or something that is similar but not the same.

Ping and Acushnet approach v everybody else. Let's see how it all plays out in the next 8 months.
 
Spin? This inventory plan has been in effect already for a year.

Why does it always have to be spin?
 
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