FIELDREPORT
Eastern promise
Japanese brand XXIO has finally arrived in the UK, armed with an innovative retail proposition based around stockless trading. The brand’s marketing manager Ben Davis explains how the approach is designed to lower risk and raise profit margins
S
o let’s get the important stuff out of the way first; it’s pronounced Zek-see-oh. Though a newcomer to the UK – it was first
marketed on these shores only last year – the XXIO brand has an impressive pedigree. Launched in Japan some 15 years ago by Sumitomo Rubber Industries – now Dunlop Sports Co Ltd – it has spent the last 11 as that country’s leading hardware brand, commanding some 40% of the market in several key categories. Though big in Japan, XXIO had until recently
been forced to play a bit part in Europe. It has been retailed as an upmarket, niche brand as part of the Srixon Sports Europe subsidiary that includes Srixon and Cleveland. But a new, global directive from Japan has changed that. With Srixon becoming an all-encompassing brand and Cleveland specialising in the short game, room has finally been created to launch XXIO in the UK as a higher-end prestigious hardware brand. And high-end it is. The eighth incarnation of XXIO
equipment – the only clubs available – is a simple, hi- tech, lightweight line-up… at least once you’ve removed the heſty price tag. The driver weighs in at £449, a set of carbon graphite irons £999. But if retailing an unfamiliar brand at those prices sounds a tough sell to you, XXIO have come up with a retail plan that might make you think again. “We knew that if we went out to the trade with the
proposition of a new product at a higher price point, even a small stockholding would be an uncomfortable risk for the pro to take,” explains Ben
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We don’t feel that’s a huge commitment on a product guaranteed to have a two-year life-cycle. The consumer will trial the product and if they like it, they’ll buy it. All stock is held centrally at Srixon, and purchased through an internet microsite –
www.xxiostore.co.uk. The retailer puts a code in as an authorised dealer, and the price will come up. The consumer pays and will receive the product within five days.”
Davis, marketing manager for XXIO. “So we decided to come up with a different way for the retailer to sell the product, one in which there is no need for him or her to purchase stock. “Instead, our rep will sell in an amount of demo equipment, at a price of around £1,000.
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