Sunday, August 25, 2013

Is golfgalaxy.com a good website to shop from? - golfgalaxy.com short website review




Golf Galaxy Online Shop - buying golf products made easy!


For more than 20 years I am active in the golf business. Be it as a player, teacher or  in sales. Until recently I still was active doing wholesale work for big golf companies. But , after travelling thousands of miles and seeing hundreds of shops I decided, I am done.


There is plenty of golf shops in our country that is for sure. We have large chains like Golfsmith, Edwin Watts, Nevada Bob’s and Golf Galaxy. Also there is thousands of smaller shops run by golf professionals , club builders and even just retailers. In other words, the golf business is huge.


Over the past years a new trend came along : The Internet!


In the beginning, most store owners were arguing that most shoppers prefer to touch before they buy. Also that the shopping trip to the store is part of the experience.


They have been proven wrong. Fact is, that more and more golfers are actually shopping through the Internet. There is several facts which support that, but I will have to write an extra note about that.


Today I want to share my first experience with one of the bigger online retailers.


Golf Galaxy


Golf Galaxy has stores and sells quality and brand products over the Internet. As most bigger retailers they understand, that both are beneficial ways to create income and if done right, actually go hand in hand.


After some great golfing on my site at a Golf Channel Tour Tournament I was excited to get two gift cards. One for 50 $ and one for 20 $. At this point I was not sure if it is good to have two cards and even if it makes sense not have the credit on one.


My first action was to go online and find a Golf Galaxy store in my area. Living in Florida I knew there must be a store close by or at least in the area. Boy was I wrong. The next Golf Galaxy store actually is located in Orlando, FL , which is about 2 hours from here.  That was pretty disappointing. However, right away I thought, what a great opportunity  to try out the website of this company. I always need equipment and golf balls. So I went to the website  one afternoon.


Pulling up the website took seconds. I liked that. That to me meant, that this will be easy to navigate which probably is a result of a website being well taken care of and on a good server.

My first impression of the website was : Simple and not confusing.

There was plenty of information on the homepage, dominated by discount offer headlines. Although I found it was a little much with all those off offers, it did not bother me at all.

It was no problem to find buttons to different product categories. All was very good organized and even if you have never been shopping on a golf website, you could do it by reading and clicking.

As an experienced Internet shopper I went to the search box right away. Their box was located at the top left side. A good spot because you tend to  look at it pretty fast.

I had a list of items ready which I considered on that day. With a 70  $ budget I knew it will not be a huge shopping trip , if I may say so.  First I was looking for golf balls. I play the same ball  at all times and so I just clicked on golf balls, found the brand, picked the color and added this item to my cart. I liked that there was info and feedback about golf balls available to the person browsing on the site.

Next I was seeking for a Smash Bag. A practice item I wanted for years, but never bought it.  Again I was able to locate this item fast and easy. This time by using the search box. I again added it to the cart.

Last I was looking for a travel case or organizer. This item was also easy to find and I actually liked what I found and added that to the cart.

My goal was to stay in budget. However, there was a couple things I had to consider. At that day Golf Galaxy offered free shipping for orders over 99 $ . But I did not reach this amount. So I was not eligible for free shipping. The shipping being about 6 $ I was not too concerned about the total. Also I saw, that there seemed to be some other coupons available through the site and I had hope that I might be able to use one.

Since I was done picking my items I moved on to check out my cart. The process starts very easy. Just click on check out and see what you have in it.

If you are satisfied go on next and you are asked to put in all your information for billing and shipping. There even is a way to put it as a gift address in, which I liked. Once I got that done I  arrived at the payment page.

Right in the beginning I was asked if I had a gift card, which I answered  with a yes and entered my number. There my first challenged showed up. I was only able to put in 1 gift card. That was not the plan and I was a little disappointed. However, before being very disappointed I actually read the small print and it told me, that if I have more than one card, I need to call  phone number ( which was clearly posted) and a person will combine the cards into one and I can proceed with my purchase.


Since I was at it right now, I called the number and it only took a couple minutes to get a representative on the phone. The lady was very friendly and asked me what I need help with. I explained what I am doing and what I have on my hand. No problem was the short answer. Further she explained to me how it will work and started the process of combining the cards.


She took the card numbers, put me on hold for about 3 minutes and came back with great news. I now had all my credit on one card which she confirmed by telling me the last 4 digits.


I was asked if I need anything else which I negated and we ended the call. So only about 6 minutes after I called I was ready to proceed with my purchase.


First I deleted the entry I had made a few minutes earlier and then I added the card number again and it worked. My 70 $ credit showed up and on the right site I found my new total.


Next there was a box telling me to put another promo code in. I did not have one, but another button offered me to click on there and see if there is a promo available today. Lucky me, there was a 5 % of every item code popping up. I was excited. The savings offset the shipping completely. So you need to make sure that you pay attention when you check out.


Confusing and not very good was the fact, that I saw sales tax on it. This was an out of state sale and I still do not know why I need to pay sales tax on that. However, because I was happy with the process so far I did not give it another thought. I think the fact that I found a promo code which saved me a few $ helped greatly with forgetting about the sales tax.


I added my CC number and proceeded to the payment page.


When you are there , you still can add or edit. That is really nice. There was not one page which did not exactly tell you what the deal is or what is going on or what you are facing next. I like that.


So I paid my order and got a confirmation number on the next screen and to my email. This  confirmation told me all about my order and also that I will get an email when the shipment goes out.


I was very happy with the entire process so far.


The website looked great and was fully functional. Golf Galaxy had a good selection of products for good prices and I was able to find what I was looking for.
Customer service was very friendly and efficient.


Only 2 days later I received an email that my order has been shipped and a tracking number for me to follow my order including an estimated delivery date. I was really excited now.

From that point I just waited and way faster than I expected the order actually arrived while I was playing a tournament.

When coming home I right away opened the large box and found everything in order. Nicely packed, undamaged and with a packing slip.

The Golf Galaxy website was a great experience. I liked the process and the service. The website works well and they have a decent selection of products with specials posted all the time.

I really found it cool that I could add the promo code which they offer openly and easy to find.

The Golf Galaxy online shop  is a golf product website which I would use again if I have a certificate or  whenever they beat prices I find on other websites. golfgalaxy.com is a great website to buy all you need for your golf game.



Make sure you come back to this blog and read about the products I bought. My goal is to write 1000 personal golf reviews this year and then keep them updated. But I hope, that I will get comments and feedback all the time. Write me if  you like what you read or if you have something else to add. Please understand that not all comments can stay. Negativity is not welcome :). Thank you for visiting.







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