The N.G.B.A, National Golf Buyers Association, often referred to as the Golf Headquarters group gathered to celebrate its 37th year at its Annual member meeting and vendor partner exhibition held this year at the Marriott Sawgrass Resort in Ponte Vedra, FL October 9th, 10th and 11th .
During the group’s annual Monday marketing seminar its award winning locally owned and operated golf specialty stores of 42 members operating 67 storefronts saw the unveiling of the organization’s hybrid Apple and Android App.
Designed to elevate the consumer mobile experience with push notification deals of the week, special sale and demo events, visibility to loyalty rewards, scheduling of personalized fittings, booking of lessons, etc., its flexibility allows members to specify what their operation’s tiles represent so their uniqueness is preserved.
The week was kicked off with a fun Monday night reception where members and vendors alike had the chance to try to hit and hold a floating green to win prizes.
On Tuesday, the members welcomed Tom Stine of Golf Datatech for an enlightening 2017 Serious Golfer Shopping and Purchasing Habits lunch presentation of market trends that was very well received. The NGBA’s relationship with Golf Datatech allows and encourages members to interact with Golf Datatech in order to keep pace informationally with industry trends.
Over the ensuing days, members met with over 40 attending vendor partners who displayed their latest innovations and show specials in the resort’s exhibit hall. The group’s vendor partner brands annually offer the group exclusive promotional show specials along with a member specific program in the member playbook. These buys enable members to provide their golfer consumer outstanding game improvement products at a strong value for every player skill level.
Lee Clapp the NGBA’s Executive Director said “One of the manufacturers attending the NGBA show happily reported that he wrote dollar value orders at the hourly pace of the largest shows he attends. That’s great news, because if our member retailers discover items of value and performance like that they’re happy and their consumers will be happy”.
In addition, executive sales management from some of the leading golf equipment manufacturers in the industry were on hand in the exhibit hall to outline their 2018 marketing philosophy, new product launch timing and go-to-market initiatives.
The N.G.B.A. corporate also team met with many vendors to plan and coordinate the timing of various digital and social media assets and consumer call to action offerings and the organization’s consumer targeted Backspin Birdie 18 e-newsletter.
On Wednesday, the members were invited to a member only Round Table Wrap Up and exchanged opinions regarding the most impactful products and platforms they saw during the week. Members departed upbeat about the upcoming Holiday season and Spring 2018.
Contact:
Lee Clapp
Executive Director
N.G.B.A / Golf Headquarters
lclapp@golfheadquarters.com
