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FEATURE


FOCUS ON TECHNOLOGY


Mark Watts is a newcomer to parking but, as he explains, it is an industry that can no longer afford to operate in a bubble


eemingly the two hot topics for investment of time and money among car park operators,


London Boroughs and local authorities are automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) and online pre-booking platforms. Walking from stand to stand at Parkex 2012, one could sense the buzz for these new technologies and it was apparent that there was no shortage of interest.


If we park ANPR for now (excuse the pun), providing a secure online pre-booking facility for prominent city and airport car parks is simply keeping up with the times in meeting customer expectations. However, once built, the next challenge is how to make the facility visible to the relevant target audience. As with any new online service, the


Field of Dreams message: ‘If you build it, they will come’ simply does not apply. Of course strength of brand will automatically bring a certain degree of visitor fl ow; however reaching the new customers and growing business is critical in these lean times. Affi liations are becoming more and more commonplace in many market sectors, and are already well-established in the airport parking arena, with many parking operators offering their car parks on tourism-based websites, directing ‘traffi c’ onto their sites as a related service offering to complement the customer experience.


Core strength


This symbiotic relationship allows the customer to book a total package in a single transaction through several companies specialising in their core businesses, working together and sharing the spoils, each taking the lion’s share for


24 JULY 2012


allegiances S


BUILDING


Everybody likes to think they have got a bargain; however, it is universally understood that convenience comes at a price Mark Watts


ABOUT the AUTHOR: Mark Watts is the managing director of visitorparking.co.uk


their particular service – with a modest percentage retained by the website host. This model is proving to be very successful in generating incremental revenues for operators and reaching new customers, with the potential for repeat business and for creating marketing opportunities.


It is vital that the technology behind


an affi liate offering is robust enough to manage bookings – it’s so easy to become a victim of your own success and to over-book facilities. Control measures need to be in place with limits established and strong communication links.


How important is pricing? Everybody likes to think they have got a bargain; however, it is universally understood that convenience comes at a price. For many, the security and peace of mind of knowing that there is a space waiting when they reach their destination will far outweigh a few pounds discount, and those travelling for business purposes will, in many cases, be able to have their parking reimbursed by their companies through expense accounts. With all this in mind, the natural progression points towards rolling an affi liate-based, online booking platform into the c ities.


Which is why we have launched visitorparking.co.uk, an affi liate website linking visitors to attractions, hotels, restaurants and businesses to car parks in London.


Visitors to the site are able to select the area they would like to park, and will be presented with a selection of participating car parks. Providing information on tariffs, facilities, directions and congestion zone advice, the traveller can select a space and make their reservation online. Notice is sent to the corresponding operator for space allocation. Each participating car park provides the maximum number of spaces they are comfortable with advertising. This is fl exible and allows for different allocations by each calendar day to allow for weekly trends and ad-hoc events. How sucessful the concept will turn out to be will depend upon the willingness of companies to work in partnership.


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