In process of re-opening the 2020 summer season after stay-at-home orders lifted, activity providers were required to drastically alter their operations and adapt to difficult regulations. But unexpectedly, in some cases, there were important learnings that never would have been discovered if not forced to implement new tactics in business procedures.
We’ve heard from a number of our Flybook users; surprising ways they were successful with profits and revenue during these challenging times. And, while we all hope someday we will be able to ditch those pesky masks and other joyful COVID side-effects, there are a number of tactics that will absolutely be continued. Here are the top 7 tips we’ve heard that helped the bottom line:
New Pricing Strategies & “Economy Plus” Experiences
It’s very common for business owners to have a fear-based approach to pricing. Nearly all of us suffer from it. That fear of charging too much, can be based on what the competition is charging (regardless of whether your experience is better) or just fear of losing customers to price point. COVID actually opened the door to experiment more with this, and the learnings were pretty textbook, albeit still surprising in practice!
COVID regulations strictly limited the number of people that could participate at any one time; or limited overall capacity in some way. Now, a resort pool, zoo or waterpark is suddenly a pseudo 'tour provider', because they have to take reservations and limit the number of people who can be in the facility at any given time. But in executing this, a key revenue generating learning occurred:
The guest feedback around limited entry (less crowds) was overwhelmingly positive.
Guests are willing to take the time to make advance reservations, and importantly – pay for them – in order to get this premium / exclusive experience. Zoo’s, waterparks, resort pools can and should offer select “economy plus” experiences that deliver delight to guests and more revenue to the bottom line. When capacity restrictions lift, this might be in the form of an upsell to purchase during a time when capacity is limited (magic hour at Disney has mastered this strategy!). Or, to buy a specific reserved spot like a lounge chair at a pool or VIP spot at your most popular attraction.
Contactless Online booking
It feels obvious, but there are still so many attractions that are walk-up or not sold online. No matter what you offer your customers: In the future, especially in the after-math of COVID, research says they will book experiences online from the comfort of their own homes even more often. This is a trend that has been emerging for years and has been further strengthened by the crisis. The contactless reservation and booking of your offers has advantages not only for your customers but also for you. With the right booking software, the reach of your business increases and through automated processes you can concentrate fully on your offer with minimal administrative effort.
Contactless Pay Onsite
Contactless pay is the newest buzzword, thanks to COVID, and rightly so. This technology has more benefits than just social distancing. It is extremely convenient for offering upsells and providing a neat experience for families in particular. Two main ideas when it comes to contactless pay.
1st: There is the actual payment process (tapping a card to a terminal rather than requiring guests to touch it) when at a traditional register. (this is pretty straightforward)
2nd: the concept of removing a credit card all together and instead storing it on a wristband for it to be scanned throughout your location/experience.
This second one is worth examining further. If you are a parent, you know how magical it is to find a place you can take your kids, where they are having fun, and you are having fun. And even more magical, when they can enjoy themselves independently with their friends.
If you are an operator, you know the value of adding revenue through onsite purchases and upsells.
The idea is this: a family of four shows up to check in. Upon checking-in, your host lets them know about the various additional (and exciting) attractions, food and beverage, and merchandise options onsite. They then ask: Would you like to load up your wristband (or your child’s wristband) with a dollar amount where purchases can be made throughout your stay here using your wristband?
If your booking platform has it (hint: The Flybook does! Read about it more here) the technology can associate a credit card to a client record, and then associate that client record to the wristband so they can make purchases and payments with a simple scan of the wristband. The feature has some intelligence built in, so you can set a limit on how much can be charged on any given wristband and a date and time it will expire.
To charge the wristband, an app or handheld scanner is used to scan the wristband and process the purchase at the point of upsell (i.e. at the giant swing, or at the snack bar). This interaction is contactless.
Premium upsells sold online help increase average ticket prices
With manufacturing facilities shut down, it has been difficult to source standard merchandise. One Flybook user who typically upsells an inexpensive glove for climbing and ziplining, had to make a change due to availability. The only choice was a higher quality and more expensive glove to offer their customers as an upsell/option online when they put their tickets into the cart. At the same time, it gave them an excuse to change their price to customers. They priced the glove in a way that made it more profitable for them to sell. (i.e. they made $1.50 on the old gloves but make $3 on the premium gloves). In the end, they sold more gloves and their average ticket price increased in the 2020 season vs. 2019.
Minimize discounting, invest in the brand
How do you price, market and push your products amid a global downturn in travel demand? When should you discount? What messaging and promotions should you use? This workshop from the folks at Arival walks through best practices and key tips to keep your marketing and pricing on track.
Simplify Operations and Offerings
In typical operating years, there has been a mentality of maximizing capacity using whatever measures possible. And the standard practice, for those who have timed tickets or tours, is to offer as many start times as possible throughout the day. Again, possibly from a fear based approach of: "what if a guest needs to come at 12:15 instead of 1pm? I need to be there for them on THEIR SCHEDULE!" With COVID regulations, this was impossible. An adventure park in Jackson Hole Wyoming, for example, had to spread out their start times from 10 tickets every 10 minutes to 20 every hour. The result was that they were more profitable in 2020 vs. 2019. A few behaviors they noticed. 1) customers will adjust to your schedule, not the other way around 2) The fact that the activity was sold out in a day, only made them want to do it more. They would book further in advance to get to try it. 3) operationally, their staff could provide a better experience with people spread out more. They could prepare better for the next group, there was less chaos and more organization.
Direct bookings – even more important!