Unexpected Industry Moves Disrupt Perception of Online Golf Consumer Habits
PORTLAND, Ore. (Nov. 16, 2016) - Longitudes Group LLC, a leading independent sports research company, announced the release of the 2016 Golf Online Shopping Report. The report provides insights into golf consumers’ current online shopping behaviors and future intentions for digital purchases of over a billion dollars on golf gear, tee-times, travel and more. The research is derived from Longitudes Group’s just launched, proprietary Golf S&P™: Spenders & Playersgolfer panel powered by a volunteer database of GolfNow’s more than 3 million registered users.
Key findings include:
- Despite bankruptcy, Golfsmith is still the #1 pure golf specialty online retailer in the minds of golf consumers. The top 15 golf online retailers are ranked by avid golfers and more importantly, avid shoppers
- Amazon takes over the strongest specialty golf retailers to be ranked as the #1 online store for golf purchases. The generalized ecommerce sites such as Amazon, eBay, and Dicks Sporting Goods gained momentum with golfers in the last three years versus the leading golf specialty webstores
- Tee-times (66%) and golf hard goods (65%) are the two most common products or services researched and purchased by golfers
- Millennials and young GenXers (< 44 years of age) are behaving quite differently in a few key digital spending areas versus the Boomer generation of golfers
- Attitudes are changing quickly since the last Golf Online Shopping research conducted in 2013 by Longitudes Group including favorite golf sites, brands and future intentions for spending this Christmas season and in the new year
- The types of devices most often used to make online purchases by young GenXers / Millennials have important repercussions for companies’ web usability and design strategies
“We estimate 2016 has been the year when the US retail value of golf gear sold online surpassed $500 million,” shared Sara Killeen, President of Longitudes Group. “Tee-time bookings and golf travel also account for hundreds of millions in spending, and this research takes the pulse on spenders and players intentions for opening their wallets across a variety of golf-related categories in 2017.”
The 2016 Online Shopping Report will provide golf industry stakeholders with information to make informed investment decisions to help grow their unique business and connect with the fast growing online shopping segment. You can purchase the 36 page report at longitudesgroup.com for $950. Buy here
The report was created from Longitudes Group’s Golf S&P™: Spenders & Players panel. The Golf S&P™ panel, powered by a volunteer database of GolfNow’s more then 3 million registered users consists of over 10,000 active spenders and players in the game and the panel is growing in size every quarter. The results in the report are culled from the survey of 1,092 respondents.
About Longitudes Group LLC
Longitudes Group, LLC, headquartered in Portland, Oregon, is a research and marketing company providing unique analysis on the travel and spending behaviors of avid golfers in the US and Canada. Armed with the Golf S&P™ panel and a database containing information on the behavior of 5.2 million avid golfers mapped by county and zip code, Longitudes Group uses a geo-demographic approach to probe both the location and purchase behavior of the avid golfer population. On the supply side, Longitudes Group has built the most up-to-date database of golf retailers including 15,300 golf facilities, 775 off-course retail stores and 1,900 chain sporting goods store. For more information about Longitudes Group and the Golf S&P™ Panel, please visit www.longitudesgroup.com
Contact:
Sara Killeen, President
(503) 477-6284
Eric Stanton, Vice President of Marketing