OK we have all said our piece in other threads so here goes

You are in charge of the club shop with a very limited budget

What is your marketing strategy

What goods will you sell


How will you sell them


How will you engage the regular fans and the occasional ones.

No I don't work for the club , I'm not Adam Jude, just a fan

I'd close the physical shop and go entirely on-line.

I'd have a presence inside the ground on match days with a limited number of items sold at a discount from the web-price for cash

I would imagine the problem is having to order minimum quantities of merchandise against low demand. I'd take a guess and say the club have had their fingers burned before by having to order more than they need and then having to sell the stock at a loss just to get rid of it.

Maybe the club should consider selling to order, display the items for pre order on the club website and if enough fans commit to buying then the club places an order with the supplier. If they don't get enough sales tell the fans that demand was too low and it's not cost effective for the club.

It's not ideal I know but were not a Manchester United and only have a fan base of 2-3K at the moment.

I'd seriously consider cutting my losses and run!

I would first of all ask the fans what they would want and build from there.
i wouldnt go for the on- line route only as all our fans do not have access to a computer. Hard one really but if you pay me 35k i am sure i could soon come up with ideas

Problem: less than 20% of Salfordians have access to the internet.

Start selling autographed items, I'd pay good money for a signed shirt, mounted in a nice frame or a ball in a glass case that sort of thing.

I wish they'd get a well known kit manufacturer too, I'm sure they'd shift more stuff if they had Adidas or Nike etc.

It can be done if working with suppliers who have a 'licence' to sell it as Nike stuff - we have such a deal at Leigh Genesis.

Leigh RL have had to close our club store and, although we sell online via O'Neills, the way forward has been shown by sorting a deal with a local sports shop to start selling a certain amount of merchandise.

Id go to forever reds and say

"Right what do the fans want", i wouldnt go all firmed up with Tarry and co behind me id go and say "im a fan, your a fan what do we want and what would we buy"

id get my answers and id go to my supplier of stuff and say can i have the minium i can order.
Id get my prototypes and id go back to forever reds to test them, see which one they like best.

After they have chosen id go tarry and co say this is what the fans want this is what it will cost they will make a decition.
If it all goes smoothly the club would then make a announcement that with the help of forever reds as its the voice of the fans we have got a new range of stuff on sale in the shop come and have a look.

Id stick a Tv In the shop with DvD of old games, perhaps interviews with players.

Matchdays inside the ground id do the same, id get it so you can pay with your card in the ground which is a must
Id put a bar or little box like we have now next to the shed against the media room so fans dont have to walk to far for a drink.

Id fix the online shop and sell the kits with a discount online
Season tickets will be available for xmas

replica shirts and t-shirts (Players heads etc), DVDs of matches
rain coats, brolleys, sizes up to 3XL

With hard work, dedication, and listening to the fans as to what they want vis a vis merchandise and such from a club shop, there is absolutely no reason why we can't have something like this rlhttp://fc-utd.co.uk/shop/rl

There is at least 8 people accessing the internet from my house alone and only 3 of them live there.

I think the main problem is cost in salford there are alot of people that work in salford that have tight budgets and buying a season ticket is all they can budget for. that is not to say everyone is in that boat. I think they have to look at what they are selling and if possible look what they can make money on by redueceing prices that would be the main area i would look at. The problem with doing that is the fine margins for profit but a limited budget its very hard. Internet would be a good marketing ploy to use to bring more options for the shop. Also to cut the costs i would look at reduseing how many replica shirts weneed in a season because you only get a person buying one is it worth trying to sell to many diffrent brands at an high cost. These are the areas i would look at but i aint an expert when it comes to marketing just an opinion