A group of European golf distributors has teamed up under the leadership of Golf Tech, the biggest independent distributor of golf products in Austria, to offer one-stop coverage of the whole European market to prospective international brands – representing an interesting new business model.
Founded in 1988, Golf Tech started off by building up a European wholesale distribution network in the last few years for its own brand of golf trolleys, Big Max, turning it into a market leader in continental Europe. The company’s distribution partners in the various countries have been sharing some of the production costs, for example for tooling, enabling Golf Tech to spend more on product development.
The same network is now being used by Golf Tech for the distribution of an American golf equipment brand, Tommy Armour, for which it concluded a European master license last year. While this license was formally acquired by Golf Tech alone, the Austrian company’s business plan and negotiations were based on the commitments of other parties in the network to specific sales goals.
By far the largest share of the equipment sales of these distributors consists of Big Max and Tommy Armour already. The partners in this unique European distribution network, which has come to be informally known as the Max Group, are open for similar deals with other suppliers of golf equipment and accessories.
The network currently covers 24 European countries, from Ireland to Russia and from Finland to Cyprus, and including all the largest markets. The United Kingdom and Ireland were added last year with Golf & Sports Supplies. The last major gap will be filled with deliveries starting in Spain next year, through Greens Twelve. Other weighty partners include Buva Sports for the Benelux countries and France, and Pro Back Up in Sweden.
Golf Tech itself covers Austria and Germany, where it sells other brands such as Etonic, Izzo, Yes! and Pink Ribbon Golf. Thomas Reiter, general manager of Golf Tech, acts as the coordinator of the Max Group on an informal basis. Officials of the participating distribution companies meet regularly, about twice per year, to discuss their partnership and any interesting new openings for future business.
One of their objectives is to make sure that the equipment brands sold by the network’s partners will gradually converge in the future. If any of the partners get a deal with a supplier, it will try to secure the rights for others in the network. Possible conflicts of interest may be eliminated over time by not extending some distribution deals in certain countries when they expire.
Another form of collaboration envisaged by the group is to set up a joint warehouse in Asia. The distributors would then place their orders with Far East suppliers together; get their products shipped more rapidly; reduce expensive warehousing in Europe; and take advantage of a larger common inventory of products instead of helping each other out in case they run out of specific products.
