Transforming data into insights: How Topgolf revolutionized business intelligence using Amazon QuickSight

This is a guest post written by Jeff Klump and Jesse Jung from Topgolf.

At Topgolf, we’re not just about golf—we’re about creating unforgettable experiences. As a sports entertainment complex, we offer an inclusive, high-tech golf game that everyone can enjoy, paired with outstanding food and beverages, all-weather hitting bays, and an energetic atmosphere. But behind the scenes, it’s data that drives our success.

At Topgolf we’ve witnessed firsthand how Amazon QuickSight has transformed the way we use data across our organization. In this post, we’ll share our journey from limited data access to a company-wide culture of data-driven decision making.

The challenge: Democratizing data access

Before QuickSight, our ability to harness the power of our data was limited. Only a small number of roles within the brand had access to performance tools, and self-service analytics was virtually non-existent. We needed a fast, easy way to understand what was happening across our system and provide every playmaker (our term for employees) with the ability to access and gain performance insights about our business.

Our team explored several options, including PowerBI, Apache Superset, and Tableau. However, QuickSight stood out for three key reasons:

• Ease of connectivity: QuickSight integrates seamlessly with our existing data warehouse in Amazon Redshift, enabling smooth access to our data without any complex setup.
• Flexible architecture: The architecture of QuickSight allows us to consume and analyze data from multiple sources. This allows us to add new components based on a variety of use cases, which leads to limitless potential and speed to analyze business performance.
• Managed service with simplified administration: Being a fully managed service, QuickSight removes the need to manage servers or limit scale. Custom configurations also allow us to set up things like row-level security and role-based access. This means that we can control who sees which data, ensuring the right people have access to the right information.

Technical architecture: Powering insights with AWS

At the heart of our business intelligence (BI) transformation lies a robust technical architecture that uses the power of AWS services. Our data journey begins with the collection of raw data from various sources across our operations. This data is then funneled into Amazon Redshift, our central data warehouse, where it’s cataloged and modeled to create a unified, comprehensive view of our business.

Amazon Redshift serves as the foundation of our data infrastructure, providing a scalable and high-performance solution for storing and processing large volumes of data. From there, we use QuickSight to visualize and analyze what’s happening within the business. The direct connection from QuickSight to Redshift allows for seamless data access and real-time insights. The following figure shows our architecture diagram.

The journey to data democratization

Our transition to QuickSight was a gradual process, transitioning fully from our legacy solution to QuickSight in about 10 months. We were able to use existing data models and structures underneath while concurrently taking advantage of new capabilities in QuickSight. The technical architecture of QuickSight was quite accommodating to our data sources and structures, which helped with the transition processes. We started by focusing on key performance areas that would have the most immediate impact on our business.

One of our first solutions was the Daily Sales Performance dashboard, shown in the following figure. This tool allows us to identify how players are coming to Topgolf and where the mix is changing. It’s become an essential part of our daily operations, helping us adapt quickly to shifting trends in customer behavior.

Another crucial development was our Hourly Sales Insights dashboard, shown in the following figure. Throughout the day, we look to find ways to maximize the experience for our players. This dashboard provides prescriptive details surrounding trends for key performance areas driving groups coming to our venues. By understanding these trends, we can tailor our offerings and promotion strategies to maximize performance and player experience.

Perhaps one of our most impactful solutions is the Demand Performance compared to Forecast dashboard shown in the following figures. This tool provides insights into how venue operations are executed against expected demand and finite inventory. It’s been instrumental in helping us optimize our resources and improve operational efficiency.

The Impact: From 250 to 2,000 data-driven playmakers

The impact of QuickSight on our organization has been nothing short of transformative. We’ve seen a dramatic increase in the number of playmakers able to use data insights, growing from 250–300 users on our legacy system to approximately 2,000 users on QuickSight.

This expanded access has fostered a culture of data-driven decision making across Topgolf. About 10% of our QuickSight users are authors with more advanced data analysis capabilities. These power users, typically in senior or subject matter expert roles, can create new QuickSight solutions and analyses, further driving innovation and insights across the organization.

Real-time visibility and collaborative problem-solving

One of the most significant benefits we’ve realized with QuickSight is real-time visibility into venue performance against forecasts. This capability has sparked more informed and productive conversations about ways to improve our operations.

For example, our operations team can now quickly identify and address gaps between forecasted and actual performance. They can dive deeper into the data to understand what factors, such as local events or weather conditions, might have impacted performance. This level of insight allows us to be more agile and responsive in our decision-making process.

Moreover, the intuitive visualizations provided by QuickSight have enabled even non-experts to participate meaningfully in these discussions. It’s become a central platform for cross-functional collaboration on performance, breaking down silos and fostering a more cohesive approach to problem-solving across the organization.

Optimizing operations with data-driven insights

Beyond performance monitoring, QuickSight has empowered us to optimize critical aspects of our operations. One area where we’ve seen significant impact is in staffing optimization.

Labor is a substantial cost driver for Topgolf, and ensuring we have the right number of staff at each venue is crucial for both customer satisfaction and operational efficiency. QuickSight helps us avoid over or understaffing venues based on forecasted demand. By analyzing historical data and current trends, we can make more accurate predictions about staffing needs, leading to improved customer experiences and cost savings.

Cost optimization and scalability

Switching to QuickSight has also allowed us to optimize our costs while expanding our analytics capabilities. With our legacy BI solution, we were constrained by fixed capacity and licensing costs. The flexible pricing model of QuickSight allows us to scale our analytics features efficiently, growing our user base without a proportional increase in costs.

This cost optimization extends beyond direct licensing fees. By democratizing access to data, we’ve reduced the burden on our central BI team to produce reports and analyses. Instead, playmakers across the organization can self-serve many of their data needs, freeing up our BI resources to focus on more complex, high-value projects.

Looking ahead: The future of BI at Topgolf

As we look to the future, we’re excited about the possibilities that QuickSight continues to offer. Our next steps include enhancing the self-service aspects of QuickSight to make our warehouse data even more accessible and usable to all playmakers.

We’re working on modularizing our data into flexible datasets that will allow development by anyone in the organization. Our goal is to truly democratize data along with generative BI to enable dashboard development by all.

While we’re currently holding back on wider use of advanced features like Q&A because of data quality considerations, improving our underlying data structure is a key focus area. We recognize the potential benefits of these capabilities for our more advanced users and are actively working towards using them in the near future.

The ripple effect: A data-driven culture

Perhaps the most profound impact of our QuickSight implementation has been the cultural shift within Topgolf. Because of the increased number of playmakers able to use QuickSight, we’ve seen a dramatic uptick in conversations around data insights. This has led to improved decision-making processes across all levels of the organization.

Data is no longer the domain of a select few—it’s become an integral part of how we operate, from front-line staff to senior management. This democratization of data has fostered a culture of curiosity and continuous improvement, where decisions are backed by solid evidence rather than gut feelings.

Conclusion: Teeing up for success with QuickSight

Our journey with Amazon QuickSight has been transformative. We’ve gone from a limited, centralized approach to business intelligence to a company-wide embrace of data-driven decision making. QuickSight has enabled us to provide broader access to more data and insights to folks across our organization, leading to improved efficiency, better resource allocation, and a more agile response to market changes.

As we continue to grow and evolve, QuickSight will remain a crucial tool in our arsenal, helping us deliver exceptional experiences to our customers while optimizing our operations behind the scenes. At Topgolf, we’re not just playing games—we’re using data to drive success, one swing at a time.

To learn more about how QuickSight can help your business, visit Amazon QuickSight. Try a free trial of QuickSight today.

About the Authors

Jeff Klump is the Senior Director of Business Intelligence at Topgolf. An avid problem solver who loves to use data and technology to make an impact, Jeff has more than 15 years of experience across multiple industries working to unlock value and insights with data. His mission to find quick ways to simplify what is happening has been a guiding principle for each opportunity he’s encountered. He has a passion to learn the business while using tools and teams to make a difference. For Jeff, data is the lineage that helps bring collaboration to new levels.

Jesse Jung is the Manager of Business Intelligence at Topgolf. He is an experienced BI Manager with a demonstrated history of working in the information technology and services industry. Skilled in Business Process, Analytical Skills, Requirements Analysis, Banking, and Business Intelligence Projects, Jesse is a strong consulting professional with a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) focused in Finance, General from University of Texas Pan American.