Below, I leave you a revealing study on the increase in sales of online golf tee times (tee times) during the 2012 financial year in British golf clubs. Without a doubt, a clear example of the evolution and transformation of consumer trends in this sport.
Sales of online green fees increase
Online tee time bookings continued to grow in 2012, according to the latest results from BRS Golf, a UK and Ireland developer in the leading online booking systems market, writes Charles de Haan.
The managing director of BRS Golf, Brian Smith, commented:
“It is comforting to see that, despite the challenging economic climate and the wettest summer in 100 years, online booking revenue continues to grow for the seventh consecutive year.“
“We are confident that this growth trend will continue for many years. First, because more golf clubs are adopting online booking every year. Second, it is becoming increasingly easy for players to connect with clubs online, search and compare prices, and book their golf game at their convenience. Third, golf clubs are beginning to improve their use of yield management, marketing, and working with TPWs (third-party websites) to distribute their tee times. All these factors are driving the growth of online bookings.”
Revenues are reduced
An anomaly that has emerged from this year’s statistics is the 13.5% drop in average revenue, going from £16,600 in 2011 to £14,337 in 2012. Smith said:
“This should not be a surprise. I blame it primarily on the horrible summer weather in 2012, and the fact that it is compared to 2011, when the 81% growth rate is unusually high. The persistent economic situation also played a part. However, £14,337 is still a significant amount for many clubs.”
The average price of the green fee is slightly affected
Smith also reported that the average price of an online casual visitor rate at clubs using the BRS system has fallen again, albeit marginally:
“The average green fee price for all our customers in 2010 was £24, £23 in 2011, and £22 in 2012. This is symptomatic of clubs going online and the continuous development of an increasingly open and competitive market.”
TPWs (Third-party websites) are fulfilling their role
The impact of the TPWs, the resellers, seems to grow at the same pace.
“According to our research,” explains Smith, “TPW green fee sales distribution companies, including Teeofftimes.co.uk, GolfNow.com, and Teetimes.co.uk, also experienced a 15% growth in 2012. Of the £7.5 million booked through Golf BRS, £1.5 million was booked through third parties, that is, a 20% share of total revenue, which underscores the contribution these TPWs, the resellers, are making to golf clubs.”
Having control of performance management
Taking into account all these factors and trends revealed by BRS Golf‘s market research, Smith has some useful guidance:
“Golf clubs wanting to maximize the benefit of selling tee times online should focus on getting a system like Golf BRS in place. All the tools you need to sell tee times online, build a marketing database with visitors’ email and mobile phone numbers, implement a marketing campaign, create reports, and make yield management work for your club.”
“One way to better understand yield management is to work with TPWs, the resellers or distributors of golf tee times. They are yield management experts and have a wealth of knowledge that can be leveraged, as well as potential additional revenue.”
