The staff at Riverwalk Golf Club in San Diego doesn’t view the end of the year the way many clubs do. Rather than accepting the last few days of the season as a time for sales to slow in the shop, they use it as a period to run promotions that generate incremental revenue.
For the past two years, throughout the month of December, Riverwalk has featured a daily special on select merchandise in the pro shop. For instance, on December 6, all men’s apparel was 30 percent off. On December 12, customers could buy a driver and received a free round of golf. A week later, on December 18, all putters were discounted 30 percent.
“Last year [2014], we sold five pairs of shoes on the day we had them marked 30 percent off, and that just doesn’t happen in December,” says general manager Monica Davis. “And we also did particularly well on men’s apparel on the day that was 30 percent off. We had a couple other days that worked real well, too, but those were the two best.”
Riverwalk’s end-of-season event was the brainchild of tournament facilitator Sean McDade, who reasoned that if the pro shop could come up with a special—a meaningful promotion with a little meat on it—for every day of the month and then post the calendar, it would encourage shoppers to pinpoint that day to buy a certain gift for the holidays.
“We wanted to take advantage of the holidays if we could,” Davis adds. “Merchandise just doesn’t sell itself, and we want not only to help ourselves, but to help the cause of encouraging people to shop at green-grass locations. By being creative and aggressive, we think we accomplish that.”