Driving growth: how Ghost Golf teed up expansion from online to on-shelf

The challenge

Ghost Golf began as a hobby project for Anand (Andy) Nalla during the COVID-19 pandemic. After decades of working in IT, he used his newfound free time to follow his passion for golf and product development. Ghost Golf went live on Shopify September 1, 2020, with the launch of its flagship product, the patented Magnetic Golf Towel.

As founder and CEO of the brand, Nalla had a knack for both development and problem solving, building a fast-growing online business selling specialty golf products like premium golf bags, accessories and lifestyle apparel.

After a few years of explosive growth from direct-to-consumer sales, major retailers like PGA Tour Superstore, Scheels and Dick’s Sporting Goods came calling, interested in trading partnerships. But retailers not only used specific technology to communicate, electronic data interchange (EDI), but also required following complex vendor rulebooks.

Once high-volume orders started coming in, EDI was not only an expectation, but a necessity for efficient order processing.

And until they were ready to move to an ERP system, the solution needed to work with the order processing system they’d built in Shopify.

The solution

The first part of the equation was simple to solve: based on past positive experience, the Ghost Golf VP of Sales recommended working with SPS Commerce.

The implementation of SPS Fulfillment for EDI enabled them to receive orders and to send out invoices and shipping documents.

But initially, they were still manually entering orders into Shopify to manage inventory and payments.

While this system seemed to work for small quantities, Nalla realized it wasn’t a scalable process for high-volume orders from major retailers. “I was at a point of, I can’t do this for hundreds of orders. That would be a nightmare,” said Nalla. “Do I need to explore an ERP?”

His team at SPS recommended the next key to efficiency: integrating SPS Fulfillment with Shopify, using a pre-built configuration.

Nalla immediately signed on, with the integration online within the month. It eliminated the need for manual order entry, enabling orders to flow right into the Shopify system his team was already familiar with, without having to move to a new ERP system.

“That was my first huge win as far as SPS Commerce is concerned, in terms of showing value to Ghost Golf,” said Nalla. “The fact that SPS could integrate orders into Shopify helped us avoid manual labor for thousands of orders, using a process we could work with.”

When his team discovered that SKUs coming in from a retailer didn’t match their internal SKUs, it was another situation quickly addressed. A consultation with SPS resulted in the creation of a translation table, so orders and SKUs continued to flow seamlessly.

“I felt validated during my interactions with SPS Commerce,” said Nalla. “The team really supported us. Part of growing the business is figuring out short-term solutions that can keep us going, while we try to figure out our permanent state. And I feel we’re in this state where SPS Commerce is giving us enough flexibility to continue our growth, with these quick fixes that get us what we need in our growth as a brand.”

The results

While Ghost Golf was already on the fast track to success, SPS Commerce technology and full-service support have been essential for handling their complex retail operations, a crucial addition to their sales mix that has seen them double their growth this year.

Nalla recommends SPS Commerce to growing brands looking to simplify complex order management processes, particularly for those dealing with major retailers.

For first-time founders like himself, “If you’ve just been doing online orders, then get a Walmart order, I know what it’s like to think, what do I do next? And to that person, I’d say, go talk to SPS Commerce, they’ll take care of you.”

Next, he says, “I tell them you don’t even have to worry about an ERP; they can integrate with Shopify. And they’re immediately like, ‘Wait, can they do that?’ That gets me a solution to go in the next 15 days, I can keep running my business while I figure out the ERP thing.”

Beyond the technical expertise, he sees value in his SPS team’s partnership. “It goes beyond what you do as a core capability,” says Nalla. “I live in the world of problem solving for my company, and when I approached SPS Commerce for a solution, you guys delivered both times. The fact that you took on two complex problems that I thought I was going to have to deal with for months, and the team just said, we got this, that’s what validated the partnership for me. It goes beyond your software capabilities.”

Bottom line, “I feel very good that this company has taken care of us. I feel assured that whatever complexity might come, the team can handle it.”