Going for the Green

Some family-owned businesses have trouble adapting to change. At times, that’s been the case with cataloger-retailer Edwin Watts Golf. But as it nears its 40th anniversary, Edwin Watts has rolled with the frequent punches in the discount- and brand-driven golf equipment industry.

Founder Edwin Watts opened his first retail store in 1968 and launched a catalog eight years later. The company debuted its Web site (www.edwinwattsgolf.com) in 1998, one of the first online golf equipment shopping sites in the industry. Through the years, the company has managed and prospered from change. Yet, no change may prove to be as worthwhile as an investment it’s made in a tool it already possessed.

Recognizing the constantly evolving marketplace and options consumers have today, Edwin’s son and Vice President of Catalog and Online Operations John Watts felt he needed more from the company’s Web site. Its lack of Web analytics and overall traffic from a lack of search engine optimization were hindering business.

“We recognized in early 2006 that we needed a platform that could help us grow over a number of years, with tools such as Web analytics and search engine optimization,” he says. Enlisting the services of a Web site developer and a new Internet platform, the Watts site has entered a new growth mode.

The site originally was developed with a Microsoft Commerce platform, which it operated under until 2005, but the site’s continued growth rendered the platform inefficient. John Watts noticed the site’s shortcomings, including bandwidth and server-size issues, as well as an inability to track the site’s traffic. “We had to be able to analyze traffic,” he says, to market to the company’s customers more effectively.

After nearly a year of experimenting with IBM WebSphere Commerce Express 5.6, an e-commerce Internet platform that Watts and its vendors found too limiting, Watts migrated to the IBM WebSphere Commerce Enterprise 6.0 platform and unveiled its reinvigorated site this past January.

“When we first came on board about a year and a half ago, the site was performing poorly,” says Rhett Daniel, senior director for USi, the Web developer that worked extensively on Watts’ site. “Watts had challenges in how its data was structured,” he says. “We helped stabilize its performance, turning off the Microsoft catalog hierarchy and making it more user-friendly and faster.”

Among other improvements, John Watts is particularly high on the upgraded and much improved checkout process and how easy it is for consumers to shop. The Web site now displays 1,700-plus products from more than 85 manufacturers.

What’s more, the new site’s consistency has been its greatest benefit, according to Watts. “The analytical data we’ve gotten from the new platform enables us to know and understand the shopping behavior of our customers — geographically and seasonally, for example.” The platform has upgraded the site’s data analytics and search engine optimization, and enhanced its marketing capabilities, especially in B-to-B marketing and promotional sales.

Establishing itself in the B-to-B market was a major factor in the platform upgrade. Major entities Edwin Watts works with on the B-to-B side include the U.S. Air Force, State Farm Insurance and Golf.com. Daniel refers to the B-to-B software in the new platform as a “portal” where customers can get special access to the site and view a filtered catalog.

Other notable features of the site include a pre-owned equipment section and the Loyal Tee program, a customer loyalty program integrated with the retail locations. The Loyal Tee program, also referenced in Watts’ print catalogs, allows customers to earn reward certificates and member-only benefits, such as special discounts, birthday bonuses, insider news and more.

Web Conversion Rate Doubles
Add it all up and since implementing its new Web platform, Watts’ online sales have far exceeded company expectations. Although Watts won’t reveal exact sales figures, he says the company’s online conversion rate has skyrocketed. “Our traffic has increased slightly, not dramatically,” he says, “but our conversion rate has doubled. People are going deeper into the site and staying longer.”

Founder Edwin Watts, who developed a love of the game while caddying as a youth, became a club pro by age 22 in Fort Walton Beach, Fla. Part of his responsibilities as the head pro at the club was to run the pro shop. It was there, noticing the lack of quality equipment, Edwin decided to open a store of his own.

Five years later, Edwin transformed the small pro shop into the original Edwin Watts Golf store. The store reopened for business in 1968, owned by Edwin and his brother Ronnie, in a 600-square-foot space with a meager $380 worth of equipment.

Today, Edwin Watts Golf mails six seasonal catalogs to some 14 million customers and prospects. The company also operates 69 stores in 10 states. The catalog division ships more than 250,000 packages annually.

“In a world that focuses on numbers and growth, we’ve remained true to our brand,” John Watts says. “We believe in a growth process that doesn’t sacrifice our brand — smart, conservative growth.”

Although most of the company’s national competitors — including cataloger-retailer Golfsmith, TGW.com, retail giant Golf Galaxy, which was absorbed by sporting goods superstore chain Dick’s Sporting Goods, and Pro Golf — are considerably larger in sales volume, Edwin Watts holds its own, remaining true to its roots and keeping popular with employees.

Employees apparently have little interest in leaving. The fact that the average employee tenure with the company is a whopping 13 years is only the half of it. Most are avid golfers; in fact, several employees are former pros on the PGA tour.

As for forthcoming growth, the company aims to open six to 10 retail stores over the next year, with the same planned for the following year, Watts says. In addition, the catalog and Web channels will continue to grow as new markets are targeted from the improved Internet platform capabilities, he says.

The Makings of a Catalog
Early on, as the company grew its retail chain in the Southeast, Edwin Watts looked to spread his brand across the country. So in 1975, the company spent $3,000 to test mail order with an ad in The Wall Street Journal for a set of Titleist clubs. Planning for about 150 orders, Watts got 600 and all the validation Edwin needed. “We had no place to store the clubs when they arrived,” the company founder recalled recently. “So we had to work outside all night processing the orders. Lucky for us it didn’t rain!” He immediately began planning for the launch of the company’s first catalog, which mailed in 1976 to 3,000 prospects. (Edwin Watts was unavailable for direct comment in this story.)

Today, with a 12-month housefile of 340,574 names, the catalog channel of Edwin Watts Golf continues to be a vital part of its success. Even with the emergence of the Web site, John Watts believes the catalog is the heart of the company. “The brand has been developed over 40 years from the catalog, and the catalog drives the business,” he says. “We’re seeing fewer people dialing the 800 number, but I don’t see that as a negative. You have to account for people like me, who may be Web shoppers but are guided to the Web by something they’ve found in one of our catalogs. The catalog has obviously built our brand, and this helps now to drive people to the Web site.”

Going forward, maintaining the current catalog circulation levels “would be in Watts’ best interests,” says Don Otway, president of Edwin Watts list brokerage, Catalog Corp. “They’re able to use the catalog to draw people to the Web.”

The catalog and orders that come into the call center also give Watts a tool to help predict trends in golf equipment sales. Edwin Watts calls this the company’s “Gallup Poll,” because customers from all over the world “tell us what they want and don’t want,” he said recently. “We use this to spot trends even before the manufacturers do.”

As for the customers it seeks, John Watts says the company doesn’t target any specific income demographic. “People make the mistake that golf is only for the affluent,” he contends. “Our customers are every type of demographic with one thing in common: a love for golf. Enthusiasts find the disposable income to support their hobby.”

Family Ties
From its founding, family has played a critical role in Edwin Watts Golf. In addition to Edwin’s brother Ronnie who co-founded the company, another brother, Wayne, a contractor, helped build the first Edwin Watts Golf store in Fort Walton Beach, Fla. And today, Edwin’s son John plays an integral role in the company.

As for Edwin, he still maintains a full-time schedule as the president/CEO of golf operations. He spends his days focusing on merchandising and overseeing everything from product research to ordering and marketing for the company.

The future appears to be much like the previous 39 years for Edwin Watts Golf. According to John Watts, the company has no plans for more catalog titles or spin-offs from their current brand. “We’re going to continue to focus on what we know we can do,” he says. From its track record, that would appear to be a leader in the golf industry through a multichannel approach. — JK