Omnico, the cloud-based POS and customer engagement solutions provider, has released its annual Theme Park Barometer report. The survey results show that 95% of global theme park visitors are willing to spend more money with the right app.
A dedicated, high functioning theme park app is high on visitors’ wish lists if it will help them to avoid queues during their day out. The Omnico survey found that 91% of people in the UK will spend money if a theme park app has the features they want. This figure rises to 97% across the US, Hong Kong, Japan and China. Omnico surveyed 3,362 people in the UK, US, China, Hong Kong and Japan who have visited a theme park in the previous two years.
Apps to make life easier
Theme park visitors are always keen to avoid queues. This was the main reason for downloading an app for 68% of people who responded around the world. Many people said they would like an app which gave them the ability to order food and drink in advance so they could skip the queue. In fact, 84% of respondents said they would appreciate this. 78% of visitors also highlighted that they wanted to be able to scan and pay for merchandise and food on their own devices, to avoid tills altogether. Other popular demands for an app were the ability to organise the whole visit in advance and to get up-to-date information on the day about what is happening on site.
Loyalty points and special offers
Apps can also provide incentives for visitors to return. 50% of those surveyed said that they would want an app with a loyalty programme, and 61% wanted the ability to get exclusive offers and rewards through the app. Around half of the respondents worldwide said they would spend more during a visit, or after, if it meant they would receive offers for a future theme park visit.
“Our research proves that apps are becoming essential to the enjoyment of a park but that visitors will only download them if they contain valuable functionality,” said Mel Taylor, CEO, Omnico. “Park operators with poorly-designed, clunky apps that don’t supercharge convenience risk losing out on substantial revenues from tech-savvy consumers.”
Parks must be wary of sending notifications too frequently, however, or highlighting information that is not relevant to that customer. An average of 46% of visitors said they would delete an app if the communication levels weren’t right.
“Apps must be supported by effective customer-engagement platforms,” added Taylor. “Apps will only meet visitors’ expectations to be a ‘theme-park-in-their-pocket’ and provide sustained revenue-increases if visitors are recognised as individuals at every touchpoint and the level of interaction is highly personalised.”
Omnico recently announced a project with Lucky Eagle Casino and Hotel in the US state of Washington. The company will be installing its cloud-based POS and customer engagement platform across the site in order to seamlessly connect all transactions.
