Cadi’s Autonomous Golf Shops Let Players Try Before They Buy On The Course

A crowdfunded California golf startup is looking to disrupt the industry’s big-box retailers with its on-course autonomous kiosks that allow golfers to try out new clubs and equipment before they buy them. According to Cadi Co-founder and CEO Tyler Gottstein, these unmanned eCommerce pods transform declining or nonexistent retail locations into thriving revenue producers — and once scaled, could be a game-changer for the industry.

“Most golf products are sold in a big-box retailer where you demo into a net or online, or where you don’t know what you are buying until it arrives,” Gottstein told PYMNTS in a recent interview, noting that 90 percent of golfers prefer to demo products on a golf course or driving range before buying, and that within 14 days, two-thirds of customers are unhappy with their purchases.

“In 2016, we recognized that there was a significant shift happening to eCommerce. But not all products can be sold online effectively,” Gottstein said. “As a passionate golfer, it was clear that the golf purchase experience was broken.”

From Idea to Investment

“As we looked deeper, we recognized that almost no public golf courses sell golf equipment,” Gottstein said, noting that traditional golf pro shops had been killed by the emergence of big-box retailers in the early 2000s, and then more so by the continued growth of eCommerce.

By his calculations, the ideal way to address this problem, while serving an affluent and influential customer base, was to set up super digitally-connected autonomous retail locations that can collect meaningful data and communicate with customers. The result, he said, is a “convenient, freeing experience that empowers the golfer to make a purchase decision based on the results of the golf equipment.”

Another selling point of the Cadi kiosks is the fact that they “sell clubs without a salesman” and generate revenue for the host site without the need to invest time, buy inventory or make a major capital investment. “Public golf pro shops are ineffective retail locations,” Gottstein explained, noting their low margins, limited selection and lack of professionally trained sales reps. “It’s a win-win because Cadi adds a unique experience for their customers and helps add bottom-line revenue to the golf course’s financials.”

Funding and Scaling

In the throes of the pandemic, when online shopping was surging, Gottstein decided to pair that with another trend: the rise in crowdfunding. Fast-forward to today, and the company just announced that in less than two months, it has raised over $600,000 — 60 percent of its initial fundraising goal.

Gottstein said the crowdfunding campaign has not only brought Cadi the benefits of launching a platform with over 1,000 investors, but has also pushed the company to become experts in digital advertising and storytelling. He noted that Cadi’s initial investors range from 20 to 50 in age, and are split 60/40 “between passionate golfers and technologists that recognize the retail shift and immediate need for innovation.”

Although this early-stage startup is focused on golf for now, Gottstein said the “try before you buy” model and autonomous retail technology is easily transferable to other sports. “There are over 15,000 golf courses in the USA, [and] we are projecting that we can have over 1,000 locations,” he said, while ultimately aiming for a larger slice of the $126 billion sporting goods industry as Cadi expands to other sports.