These are the results of the club clothing survey that took place over January. A small sample size – 75 clubs – compared with our usual surveys but interesting nonetheless. And, we hope, insightful for clubs grappling with these issues this time of the year. Discussion of the results is taking place in the Network now, for members, on LinkedIn here.
| In a few words, what is the main challenge for YOUR CLUB in regard to club clothing suppliers? |
| Price and delivery times. We had a very good supplier for years in Kent who unfortunately for Kalibazaar went offline. We have not found someone as good. Hopefully All Rounder can do so this year. |
| Last season the logos appeared with printed badges rather than embroidered badges which they had in 2018. This happened without us being advised of the change. The product therefore didn’t look as good as it had done previously. |
| I have dealt with club shirts for our club for years now (even set up a website to try enter the market myself). We have had many suppliers from GN, Surridge, All Rounder and Pendle. Poor delivery timescales and high cost with All Rounder means we will be ending our relationship with them although we do run on a cycle of new senior shirts for both teams every two years and in the past 10 years have had Adidas twice through AR. Currently in discussion with an existing sports supplier who haven’t really tackled the cricket market yet. Although have tried this before and quality was poor. Currently waiting on a sample if not other option looks like GN through Owzat |
| We purchase the stock ourselves and sell it onto members. That way we all have ‘same’ shirts rather than some turn up in one sponsors shirt, another in right sponsor but old manufacturer |
| Getting a reasonable quality at a good price. Sponsorship money usually needs topping up either by the Club or by Members |
| Getting it all set up initially |
| Lead time is the main challenge and coordinating the purchase of the kit. |
| Creating a good relationship |
| Sizes |
| Changing designs and speed of delivery particularly for younger members |
| Poor communication and long lead times. |
| Our current contact has left and the company taken over. We wait to see how they will be |
| Implementing changes with sponsors etc |
| Sponsors changing and existing sponsors wanting changes in design. Players not being able to afford/want updated shirts particularly in lower sides and juniors |
| We would probably not change supplier as at present we have sponsors on contracts. No point in changing supplier if the sponsors are the same. This gives value to the member. We also like to offer other items that our supplier can not offer. |
| Getting a sponsor. |
| Quality: across manufacturing, delivery, customer service. Very happy with GN after failures with others |
| Getting the members to part with their cash on club clothing |
| Getting good quality clothing for a reasonable price |
| Value for money and service |
| We have now found a relationship which works really well for us. No minimum order quantities, ability for individuals to order directly online with the supplier. The lead times are very good, with most orders arriving within a week of placing them. The customer service is excellent and the products are a really good quality. We would certainly highly recommend dealing with Gray Nicolls directly. |
| There isn’t one really we are lucky with a long term sponsor so changes on shirts isn’t an issue, in the past we have had one off sponsors which became a nightmare for shirt retention.. |
| The quality of some of the shirts etc have been poor and some of our more senior players would like something that lasts longer than a season or two… |
| Getting quality for the price you want to pay. Biggest disadvantage is if the sponsor decides not to be involved and in getting a new sponsor new clothing is required which as the players buy their own. It all mounts up |
| Delivery lead times As the kits are made to order. |
| Getting the right combination of price, quality and delivery lead times |
| Getting all players to buy it |
| Delivery times and cost. |
| We try to balance supporting a local business whilst keeping costs down for our members. When we enter into new sponsorship arrangements, the first year of funds the cost of supplying shirts to paid up members and then for any new members in subsequent years. Our casual kit is not branded, but still good quality – this keeps the cost down. For juniors we hold a set of match shirts that are returned after games. We benefit from having a local cricket shop that uses a local embroidery/printing firm, so lead times are very short and you can order online or in shop. Challenge is managing some players expectations, who want to steer us towards the £45 playing shirts and branded training kit, where we’re looking for uniformity to build cohesion and a shared sense of identity. |
| Product time |
| Nothing at the minute, we are sticking with Kitlocker for 2 years. it is the same kit we had with AllRounder for the last two years too. |
| We use Kukri for our main playing shirt, which we design bespoke in short/long sleeve & then hold stock. We’ve used them for 10 years and the quality/design is excellent in my view and our shirt is unique. However they fall short on the stock items where we’ve had order errors and prolonged periods where they can’t fill orders in some sizes for their stock items. This may push us towards AllRounder or similar for our next new shirt. |
| Price is a bit on the steep side as we don’t have any room for any kickback payment |
| Consistent quality and readily available |
| Having recently changed supplier (ahead of the 2019 season) from Adidas to a lesser known brand (Macer) we faced the challenge from those members who were more brand conscious and weren’t too keen to move to a non mainstream supplier. We overcame this with assurances around quality, price and delivery times – all of which had been challenges with Adidas (via All Rounder) |
| Ensuring good products with fast lead time, good customer service and reasonable prices |
| Good prices for quality with quick turnaround for delivery |
| Overall cost for players/parents. Would like to have more standard club-wear for playing/training across club, but overall cost (and changes in sponsor) means it would be unreasonable to mandate it. |
| Our Club is in the process of changing our supplier to Moette. We have used a number of suppliers over the years with varying degrees of satisfaction. Niggles are always about speed of delivery and getting things right first time. |
| There is no real challenge. We are lucky we have a provider who is less than 10. miles away and offer the ability to purchase both online and in shop. Therefore it works well for our members. |
| Cost of replacement for junior parents as the children grow. With numbers of players reducing trying to enforce kit requirements and costs onto people Small clubs find it hard to attract the best discount rates |
| Easy to deal with. |
| Ensuring that size details are accurate |
| Getting all players to wear current kit. |
| Trying to get a balance across all the factors raised above. We have had 5 different suppliers over the past 19 years and they all had issues, either with delivery times, cost etc. Having an Online shop and not holding stock is important but members expect prompt delivery and it is normally the smaller suppliers who offer better value and shops etc. |
| Consistency of quality |
| The crunch time when many wake up to the fact they need kit, want it tomorrow and so does everyone else and that results in delay and frustration, but thats like world hunger… |
| We need standard stick holding with a bottle green trim This is not standard so generally required going to big expensive brand The badge apparently is complex so the quality of embroidery is an issue – but none of these suppliers can advise how to simplify the badge – they just keep messing it up particularly on caps |
| Not having to hold stock |
| Every manufacturer gives promises they cannot keep. |
| Delivery in later parts of season |
| Players wanting “known brands” like adidas, even though the delivery time, service and quality of the finished logo and kit was awful !! |
| Change of sponsorship |
| No major challenges. Our arrangement has been in place for severall years. |
| Quality of kit, consistency of kit, customer service and delivery times |
| Our players keep their kit for a good period rather than change each year so it makes it challenging to alter our sponsor. |
| Balancing continuity of designs, sponsors and quality/cost |
| As a club we don’t make enough money from the sale of kit and can’t set the prices/margin in the club store. The range and service is excellent but any profits currently go to Serious cricket |
| It is important to be able that lasts, looks good and is of reasonable good qualitt st a realistic price. It is also great for similar playing kit, training and social wear to be available for colts, ladies and men, via the suppliers online Club Shop. |
| Struggled for years to find a kit supplier who delivered on commitments. To date, we have had zero issues with Serious and I am no longer looking for a replacement/back up plan which is great. Serious just works in our case. |
| Finding a company that understands the needs of the small village club |
| Getting sizes correct and procuring quality gear at acceptable prices |
| Delivery within one week of order |
| Lack of communication of changes to supplier, logo colour changes and printing instead of embroidering whilst still paying the same price for lesser quality |
| We have an existing arrangement which suits our members, I wouldn’t say we have any challenges at the moment. There are occasional grumbles about about slow delivery but we generally have a good relationship with our suppliers. |
| Delivery times in peak ordering period. Ease of set up. Comparison of different offer/prices |
| Changing sponsors |
| We are asked to use the Herts League’s preferred supplier |