Market Research and Analysis
Customers
Golfers are one of the most affluent and well-educated
demographics. Of the 26 million Americans that play
golf, 96% are male with an average household income
of $67,940, 19% of them having a household income of
over $100,000. 51% are in a professional or managerial
position and 94% have computers at home. ( 1 )
Our web-based product is a perfect vehicle for bringing
together buyers and sellers in this global marketplace.
The vast scope of the Internet allows Golfing Gopher
to reach an International english-speaking market without
incurring additional costs.
Additionally, it is interesting to note that 40% of of equipment obtained by golfers were gifts...suggesting that Golfing Gopher will also appeal to the non-golfing consumer as well.
In a recent survey, 77% of people who browse for goods on the Web but have not purchased anything indicated that they would be more likely to do so if they were convinced they could not find a lower price.
1. stats from golf.com—based on Golf Digest survey in 1997
Market Size and Trends
Golfers worldwide spend approximately $30 billion
annually on golf-related
services and merchandise. (Clubs: 3.6 billion, apparel:
2.41 billion, other equipment: 2.1 billion) Women alone
spend $3 billion on equipment, apparel and greens fees.
The popularity of Golf as a sport grows every year with
of no signs of decline. Due to the popularity of the
Internet, more and more golfers are making purchases
online, a trend that is likely to continue. The number
of consumers making web-based purchases is expected
to grow from 31 million to 183 million and general online
advertising spending will surge from $5.25 billion (1999)
to $45.5 billion by 2005.
Comparison shopping engines are hot products. The
fact that all of the major e-commerce players are buying
up comparison search engines is an enormous clue as
to just how hot they are considered. InfoSeek purchased
the Quando shopping robot for 17 million, Amazon.com
paid 180 million for bargain-hunting robot Junglee,
Inktomi Corporation agreed to acquire C2B comparison
shopping software for stock valued at 92.7 million.
MySimon was acquired by CNET for 11 million in stock
valued at over 700 million, Excite has acquired Jango.
13 of the top 100 e-commerce sites offer auctions. consumer-to
-consumer auctions accounted for $3 billion of total
auction transactions according to Jupiter communications
and almost 7 million U.S. internet users will make a
purchase via an auction in 2002.
The market for Internet-capable wireless devices
is exploding. In the next couple of years, Internet
ready mobile phones Palm Pilots and other brand of PDA’s
will be commonplace. Jupiter communications expects
that users of browser-enabled phones to soar from 1.1
million to 79.4 million in 2003 and browser-enabled
PDA’s to grow from 5.2 million to 12 million.2
Consumers will be able to find the latest information
on price and equipment wether they are at the airport,
on the Golf course, or negotiating with s sales representative
at Dick’s Sporting goods.
2 source: Company Press Release, PinPoint.com Inc.,
wap.totalsports.net
Competition and Competitive Advantages
Golfing Gopher is thus far only comparison shopper focused exclusively for this niche, resulting in an important first-mover advantage. Since we are dedicated to just a single vertical market, our quantitative and qualitative information is of higher quality than a generic price comparison engine.
Our memorable name and focus on the ‘user experience’ will create strong brand recognition. Golfing Gopher is more ‘user friendly’ than competitors can afford to be and is focused on creating a positive user experience...design and usability issues are number one priority. We can afford to only do only one thing and do it better than the competition because of our small size. They need tons of useless features just to break even. Because of our small size, we can innovate faster than the competition. We can literally turn on a dime.
A dramatic reduction in ‘search costs’ is an immediate economic benefit to the consumer. Consumers no longer have to make phone calls to see if products are available, no driving to retailer brick-and-mortars or driving back to make returns, and no magazine subscriptions or purchases are required to research or to find certain products. Best of all, no pressure from annoying salespeople.
The Company will create a strategic partnership with an influential and well-established Industry leader (hereafter referred to as ‘Our Partner’) to enable the GolfingGopher product to enter the market and grow quickly.
Levels the playing field for smaller e-retailers with less brand recognition in many ways. (more than just price) Golfing Gopher will capture some of the smaller merchants the competition does not by offering the important GopherGuage Consumer Search Preferences Report.
Trademarked GopherGrams and GopherGreetings, weekly contests, and give-always keep a steady flow of eyeballs on the site. E-tailers are going to want to see a large number of visitors to our site and these features keep customers returning even if they do not intend to make a purchase or research a product. GolfingGopher will also offer free “content licenses” to the 2000 amateur golf sites. Providing this free license creates value to the amateur site by providing valuable content while simultaneously driving traffic to GolfingGopher.
No competitor offers the detailed ‘Consumer Search Preferences Report’, AKA GopherGauge, that we offer. This is very unique and invaluable marketing information both large and small e-retailers will want to buy.
Our Trademarks and intellectual property holdings greatly enhance our market valuation. This advantage makes as a promising acquisition for a larger industry player. One of our hedge bets is that a large company will find our holdings valuable and would be willing to acquire the rights to our domain names and character trademarks. In the unlikely event that the company does not provide a dramatic return on investment we can sell these intellectual assets. Our acquired domain names are listed below:
- GolfingGopher.com
- GopherGear.com
- GopherGang.com
- GolfingGopher.net
- PalmGopher.com
- GolfGospel.com
- GopherCast.com
- GolfGopher.net
- GolfGofer.com
- GolfingGofer.net
Estimated Market Share and Sales
Our GopherGauge reports, our memorable name and cartoon characters and our partnership with an industry leader will keep us saleable if and when a competitor comes into the market. As a first mover, we will gain incredible momentum and brand recognition. Our commitment to providing valuable data to our consumers and the value we provide to e-tailers will generate loyalty and trust. There is not enough data at this time for us to approximate our marketshare.
Ongoing Market Valuation
Golfing Gopher will study and evaluate our target markets by utilizing the data from GopherGuage and our server reports. We are able to track user movements within our site to see which sections of the site they value most and which sections need improvement. Occasionally, consumers will be asked to fill out a short online surveys when registering for give-always and prizes.
New products rolled out on a strategic predetermined schedule to hold market evaluation and create opportunities for press coverage. Some possible new product ideas are listed below:
- PalmGopher tracks your golf handicap via wireless PDA or web-enabled phone
- GopherCast™ live Internet broadcast of live golf events once broadband (cable/DSL) become more widespread.
- Revolutionary Gopher-It transaction system
- Creation of a ‘Point’ system where consumers earn when making purchases through our web site. Earn points towards buying merchandise.
- Creation of ‘Profit sharing’ program with customers who drive traffic to Golfing Gopher (per-click-through fee rewards)
- Plan a golf vacation/Golf course reviews
In the future, there will be intelligent ‘agents’ that will automatically do the buying and selling between consumers and e-tailers. Golfing Gopher will have this technology in place as the bugs get worked out and it becomes more popular. Essentially, consumers will be able to send the Golfing Gopher mascot ‘Mulligan’ in the capacity of their ‘agent’ to an e-tailer site and bid on a product. The e-tailer can either accept or reject the offer, and ‘Stan’ can either counter offer or accept the price as stated. All of this negotiating will take place in cyberspace base on user variables and is transparent to the user.
