Golfdigg began as a hobby
Golfdigg is an online golf platform which was set up 5 years ago by Purit Auksorntub (Chief Golf Officer) – a man who has a huge fascination with the sport of golf – and his friends who helped him open the company and develop the application. Together, they began by identifying the concepts needed to create an effective service which could resolve people’s problems. In addition to Purit, the team consists of Teera Siricharoen (CEO), Wichatipol Surapolpichet (Chief Product Officer), Tussawit Intasuwan (COO) and Setawuti Arunsri (CTO).
Golfdigg started out as a result of issues which personally affected Purit, who would often try to book golf courses for him and his friends to play on after they had finished work. However, it’s out of office hour. He was therefore unable to take his booking for some reason or another. More importantly, there were numerous occasions when he would call to make a booking but find that the price he was quoted was higher than what his friends were paying. Furthermore, some of the golf courses he’d call would actually have a promotion running but one that he was unaware of, leaving him out of pocket and disappointed. He therefore began to think that there should be an online service available to help people book a golf course, a service that could be used 24 hours a day and offer the fairest prices. It was this motivation that led to him putting together a team in order to develop ideas which could make his dream a reality.
The word ‘digg’ comes from the slang word that means to really like something. This was then combined with the subject itself, ‘golf,’ to create Golfdigg - a word that refers to one’s fascination or preference for the sport of golf. In keeping with this theme, all the services on offer have been developed with golfers, or anyone who truly loves the sport, in mind.
The transformation from a hobby into an international business
Golfdigg began with a focus on last minute deals, providing a service whereby premium timeslots for a golf course would be available with discounts of between 30-80% in order to stop any wastage of a slot or course. These initial services were designed only to allow bookings made one day in advance (the company’s initial slogan was: book today, play tomorrow). This was seen as a way for the company to test the waters and find out whether or not the services on offer from Golfdigg would effectively respond to the needs of the Thai golfing industry.
That initial period went well and the responses from true golf enthusiasts were that they could now make bookings with greater ease, at much fairer prices, while also getting the best value for money. Golf courses which had online sales channels were therefore able to increase their sales figures significantly. Subsequently, Golfdigg added more depth to its services during the next year by increasing the prior booking period from just one day to 1-7 days. Currently, Golfdigg’s customers are able to make bookings up to 30 days in advance of their golf sessions, while each day has numerous timeslots available at various prices in order to make booking a golf course even easier and more convenient than ever.
Golfdigg also has golf course booking services which can be accessed via its application, which can be used with both iOS and Android systems. With a website (www.golfdigg.com) also available, Golfdigg has a combined number of over 100,000 people using its services. Over 90% of this figure is made up of both Thai nationals and foreign expats who access the services via the application. The remaining 10% of customers are Japanese, Korean and European golfers – the main groups who travel to play golf in Thailand – who access Golfdigg via its website.
Foreigners have become aware of Golfdigg through search engines as well as content reviews from customers who have used the service and gone on to write a positive review based on their experiences. The growth of Golfdigg among foreigners is therefore seen as an organic model (natural growth that does not require any specific marketing investment). A great user experience for anyone selecting the service is paramount to Golfdigg, and in Q4 of 2018, there are plans in place to increase the marketing potential through important business partnerships.
The customer voice is the greatest input for the development of Golfdigg
Golfdigg has undergone the following 3 main transformations:
The first change was in terms of the business model. This involved transforming the service model of providing ‘last minute deals’ at the cheapest prices as its main objective, into a complete ‘golf booking service’ that also had last minute deals available as one of its range of services. This change was due to a clear segmentation of the golfing customers, including those who truly wanted to find the cheapest prices, and those for whom the price came second to finding a booking time which was most suited to their needs.
The second transformation was to begin offering ticket and leisure services to golfers. This would cater to all of a golfer’s needs by allowing them to book numerous other services, either before or after their golfing session. Such services include golf training sessions for those who are new to the sport or wish to hone their technique, golf and hotel packages for courses in other provinces, tickets to watch golf events, tickets to play in golfing competitions, golf course food and drink coupons, as well as many more services that are planned for release in the not-too-distant future.
The third iteration was to include web reservation services which are a form of website booking for various golf venues. Such venues must already have their own website that can be used by golf players looking to book a golf session directly with a golf course. Currently, 3 golf courses are offering this service but this form is still in its nascent stages and it is continuously launching new features.
Each transformation has been in response to feedback from golfers and golf courses, while each change is viewed as a move towards increasing and deepening the scope of the services on offer. However, the focus remains on ensuring that the golf industry is easily accessible to both the sporting and tourism markets.
The Golfdigg family: New services for golfers, created by golfers
“GOLFDIGG FAMILY” was launched in last year. This is a service which has been implemented subsequent to a complete overhaul of our previous loyalty program to ensure it is much more suited to the needs of the business and its customers. Golf enthusiasts using Golfdigg services will receive greater and more varied benefits than those who book through other channels, with every 200 THB spent in bookings earning 1 GOLFDIGG POINT. When a customer accumulates 250 POINTS, they will be upgraded to the GOLD level, while those who collect an additional 500 POINTS will be upgraded to the BLACK level. Currently, BLACK level customers make up almost 1% of the total customer base and it is anticipated that this number will continue to increase once each user becomes aware of the benefits that come with each level of membership (the number of spending and point may be subject to change over time).
“GOLFDIGG FAMILY” is one of the features that golfers who use the Golfdigg service regularly ask about each time they make a booking that results in GOLFDIGG POINTS being received. However, nobody really knows what they should be doing with these points, so we are looking at this issue from various angles, creating surveys and testing numerous ideas with each group of golfers to better understand what should be done to make the most out of these GOLFDIGG POINTS. Generally, the golfers’ responses have been similar and this has made us more confident in how to move forward in order to meet the needs of every single of one of our golf players.
The aim of this Golfdigg service is to ensure that our golfers feel satisfied with the benefits and privileges available from each level, which our team has worked hard to develop. Our customers are able to use their discounts or other special privileges to ensure that they get the best deal when booking a golf course. All of this is in line with the Golfdigg company mission, namely that ‘we make people enjoy more golf’.
The definition of the word ‘scale’ according to Golfdigg
Scale is an important part of any successful business. An example regarding Golfdigg in particular is its main form of income, which is generated by commission fees from the B2C side. The more they sell, the greater their portion of profits. Therefore, it is essential that the business expands its customer base to ever greater numbers, while also managing investment so that business operations costs are kept lower than expansion costs. This will ensure that profits increase as the company expands and that any income enables business self-sufficiency, as well as creating stable growth, which is what scale is all about. Hence, all business operations, including front of house, behind the scenes operations, or support must all be carefully planned from the outset to ensure that effective scaling can take place.
A message for those just starting out
Golfdigg itself is still a startup business which is currently entering into a scale stage. The advice we’d like to give is that scaling is a hugely important process that should be planned for right from the very beginning of any startup company. However, another key aspect to take into consideration is what to do when things do not entirely go to plan. When this happens, we must find effective solutions, or be prepared to constantly alter the way we operate, in order to keep any growth momentum moving forwards, because a successful startup is a startup that can scale.
AIS The StartUp shares the same attitude as Golfdigg, namely that we place huge importance on scale. Expanding the scope of a business with a commitment to these principles can help to increase profits for members of AIS The StartUp to ensure growth and actual income creation. If any business entrepreneurs out there would like take this opportunity to make their business soar in terms of scaling, please contact us in order to share your results with AIS The StartUp at www.ais.th.thestartup from today onwards.
