Courses can now expand their online booking capabilities beyond tee times, offering 24/7 online bookings for off-course services such as golf simulators, lessons, fittings, racket sports and more
MONTREAL, – Lightspeed Commerce Inc. (NYSE | TSX: LSPD) announced today the launch of Lightspeed Scheduling—an all-new booking management tool released to golf course operators. Lightspeed Scheduling enables golf facilities to serve a broader audience and drive additional revenue by easily taking bookings for as many off-course services as they need, straight from Lightspeed’s one-stop golf management platform. Powering the world’s best businesses, Lightspeed is the unified POS and payments platform for ambitious entrepreneurs who wish to accelerate growth, provide the best customer experiences and become a go-to destination in their space.
The release of Lightspeed Scheduling comes at an opportune time for North American courses. With the surging demand for off-course golf activities in recent years, approximately 70% of Lightspeed Golf customers currently have booking needs that extend beyond the golf course. With its specific focus on off-course booking, Lightspeed Scheduling makes it far easier for courses to offer additional services, market them online, manage reservations and create a seamless experience for staff and customers.
“We are incredibly excited about the official release of Lightspeed Scheduling and for the opportunities it creates for the courses we work with,” said David Hope, General Manager, Lightspeed Golf. “Our job as their technology partner is to provide tools that help them solve their unique operational challenges, adapt to industry changes, improve customer touchpoints and scale their businesses. We believe the addition of Lightspeed Scheduling to our core Lightspeed Golf platform helps courses do just that, as well as gain an edge over their competition.”
The surging demand for off-course golf
Thanks to venues like Topgolf and the growing commercialization and accessibility of simulator technology, off-course golf is altering the way millions of people enjoy the game. This growing popularity is a welcome trend, as it creates both new avenues to the game and new ways to enjoy golf beyond traditional 9- or 18-hole rounds. From the addition of simulator bays and dedicated putting courses to enhanced driving range experiences and beyond, it presents golf facilities with new opportunities to scale their operations and add new services that customers will love.
According to a report by the National Golf Foundation (NGF), the number of off-course golf participants (27.9 million) surpassed on-course golf participants (25.6 million) in 2022. The NGF also reports that the amount of Americans participating in simulator golf has grown 73% since 2019.
Lightspeed Scheduling makes booking off-course services faster, simpler and smarter
Thousands of golf facilities across North America currently offer a wide array of additional services that require a simple means of booking and scheduling: simulator bays, driving ranges, club fittings, golf lessons, racket sports, corporate events, accommodations and more. Lightspeed Scheduling helps golf operators take and manage bookings for these types of services with software specially designed for golf facilities and configured to their specific needs.
An advanced, fully-integrated scheduling tool: Instead of time-consuming, disorganized, error-ridden workarounds, Lightspeed Scheduling is native to Lightspeed’s existing golf course management platform and provides a high degree of flexibility and customization.
Easy for staff and management: Golf course operators need simple, automated tools to keep up with the demands of peak season bookings. Lightspeed Scheduling makes it simple to create and manage all of their service calendars, view any schedule at a glance, take bookings, and communicate with customers whether they’re at the pro shop counter or not.
Easy for customers: Customers should be able to book the services they want whenever, wherever. From 24/7 online booking and payment to automated email notifications, Lightspeed Scheduling keeps the booking process simple across all service calendars.
Reporting and analytics: Golf facilities must be able to monitor the ongoing impact of their additional services on their bottom line. Lightspeed Scheduling leverages Lightspeed’s Business Intelligence tools to generate easy-to-read reports on payment, customer and booking data.
Lightspeed Scheduling is currently available to Lightspeed Golf customers in a private beta.
Lightspeed powers the world’s best businesses, including: Kemper Sports, Landscapes Golf Management, GreatLIFE Golf, Advance Golf Partners, Tobacco Road Golf Club, Cape Kidnappers, TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley and other incredible golf merchants across the globe.
Dive into the features of Lightspeed Scheduling on our website. Lightspeed’s team will also be onsite at the 2024 PGA Show from January 24 to 26 at booth #3929.
About Lightspeed
Powering the businesses that are the backbone of the global economy, Lightspeed’s one-stop commerce platform helps merchants innovate to simplify, scale and provide exceptional customer experiences. Our cloud commerce solution transforms and unifies online and physical operations, multichannel sales, expansion to new locations, global payments, financial solutions and connection to supplier networks.
Founded in Montréal, Canada in 2005, Lightspeed is dual-listed on the New York Stock Exchange and Toronto Stock Exchange (NYSE: LSPD) (TSX: LSPD). With teams across North America, Europe and Asia Pacific, the company serves retail, hospitality and golf businesses in over 100 countries.
