LAZRUS Golf Drives Sales with Managed Markets from Shopify

Seeking a break from a demanding construction career, Colton Draper realized that many hobby golfers sought quality clubs without the high price tag. In 2017, Colton founded LAZRUS Golf as a US direct-to-consumer brand offering a range of golf equipment, including irons, wedges, and hybrids for golfers of all levels. Starting with a single wedge in Colton’s Idaho home garage, the company quickly grew, providing clubs, sets, and accessories for men, women, and kids. Today, golfers worldwide use LAZRUS Golf products.

As LAZRUS Golf expanded globally, Colton encountered issues with international customers being surprised by unexpected fees upon delivery. Despite efforts to provide transparency through the LAZRUS Golf website, customers were still confused, which led to frequent complaints. Colton recognized the importance of brand reputation and word-of-mouth in the direct-to-consumer sports product market, prompting him to explore Shopify’s international sales tools, including Managed Markets. 

Since implementing Managed Markets, LAZRUS Golf has seen:

• 74% year-over-year sales growth 
• 55% year-over-year Improvement in Eurozone conversion rates
• 41% year-over-year Improvement in UK conversion rates
• 2X the number of countries where products were sold

The Challenge: Unexpected fees upset global customers

LAZRUS Golf began selling in the US and soon expanded into the UK and Canada. But the brand faced complications when customers outside the US were surprised by unexpected fees.  “Not knowing duties, taxes, and fees upfront is a major problem for people,” explains Colton. “When customers get hit at their door with fees when their order arrives, it leaves a bad taste in their mouth.”

LAZRUS Golf made efforts to be as transparent as possible with costs. Despite providing detailed information on their website, international customers were often confused and surprised by the costs of ordering from overseas. “We were contacted by a disgruntled customer every other day,” Colton says. “They would ask about the duties and fees they were charged after they received their order.” Customer service headaches like these were preventing Colton from spending valuable time and energy into growing the business. 

With word of mouth reviews being crucial for direct-to-consumer sports products, Colton realized that expanding LAZRUS Golf into other markets required a more effective solution for selling across borders.

The Solution: Managed Markets streamlines the shopping experience

LAZRUS Golf started using Managed Markets from Shopify in 2023. Doing so provided customers transparency at the time of purchase by automatically calculating all relevant fees at checkout, including duties, taxes, and shipping costs. To help reduce costs, Shopify leverages established partnerships with leading global carriers to offer competitive shipping rates. It also ensures shipments comply with region-specific import and tax requirements, helping avoid any unwanted surprises for merchants or their customers.

Through a combination of strategic partnerships, technology, and logistics optimization, Managed Markets also helped improve shipping speed. Before activating the solution, LAZRUS Golf shipped to about 25 different countries. Products would arrive to international customers in 5-7 business days on average. But today, the brand has customers in more than 50 countries who receive their orders in a fraction of that time. “One customer received his order in Canada the next day. He was blown away!” says Colton.

Managed Markets also provides a localized shopping experience for LAZRUS Golf’s customers. It displays prices in local currencies and offers local payment methods at checkout. This personalized feel provides customers with a more comfortable shopping experience. Colton emphasizes how important this is, saying “If you have a good experience with a brand, you’re more likely to come back and tell people about it. It’s not just about getting the first sale, it’s about getting recurring sales and having people talk about your brand.”

The Results: A hole-in-one for increasing sales

The impact of Managed Markets has been significant for LAZRUS Golf. Colton says that he has expanded his international sales goals because of how streamlined the shopping experience has become for his customers in other countries and how shipping times and costs have been reduced. 

“We want to reach as many countries in the world as possible,” says Colton. “When you think about reaching new pockets of the world, it might cost LAZRUS Golf $140 to ship an order. But that same product shipped with Managed Markets may cost only $35. We’re saving a substantial amount of money, which we can reinvest into local marketing to grow brand awareness and increase sales even more.”

In addition to reducing costs, Shopify has helped reduce the energy and time taken to physically pack and ship boxes. Before Managed Markets, we had to clearly print forms on the box, as well as open it up, and put customs forms in the box,” says Colton. “Then zip it up, tape around it, and then ship it. We also had to sign every pre-customs or stamp with my signature. Now it’s paperless with Managed Markets and DHL Express.” Thanks to these efficiencies, Colton adds that “Over the course of a year, we’re saving hundreds of hours.”

Thanks to all that time saved, the team can invest more in the areas most likely to fuel growth. “With Managed Markets, we’re no longer limited in terms of where we can sell because it’s far less expensive and takes less time to ship to customers around the world,” says Colton. “So we’re spending more on marketing in new regions to test the waters and continue to expand.”