Using data intelligence to improve attraction operations - where to site my next onsite concession.

The visitor attraction industry is undergoing a transformation, driven by data intelligence. While understanding which marketing tactics resonate with visitors to secure bookings is crucial, interpreting actual visitor data to optimise business operations is a distinct challenge. This is where cloud-based audience engagement platforms prove invaluable.

The retail sector has largely pioneered the use of technology to enhance the customer journey, from product discovery to checkout. A key enabling technology in this shift is beacon technology, sometimes referred to as ‘beaconology’. With the widespread adoption of smartphones, the global 'beaconology' market is projected to exceed USD 35.15 billion by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 44.1% according to a 2020 Emergen Research paper. This technology's influence extends significantly to the visitor attractions sector, which is increasingly leveraging it, alongside the rapid adoption of the Internet of Things (IoT), to foster customer loyalty and elevate the guest experience.

How Beacon Technology Works for Attractions

Beacons are small, battery-operated wireless devices that transmit a Bluetooth Low Energy signal to smartphones within a defined radius. They are fundamental to ‘proximity marketing’ and generate valuable data insights. These beacons emit a constant, invisible signal, which is detected by smartphones running a dedicated app with Bluetooth enabled. When a device picks up this signal, it triggers a pre-programmed action via the audience engagement platform.

In a retail setting, this might involve delivering adverts, special offers, or discounts to shoppers. For visitor attractions, the same principle can be applied to engage with audiences, influence behaviour, and provide rewards. Imagine a zoo, wildlife park, museum, aquarium, or theme park implementing such a system.

Optimising On-site Concessions and Experiences

Consider how this technology, as part of a fully integrated audience experience platform, can pinpoint the optimal location for a new snack bar, mobile concession, display, exhibit, or ride. Once you have embraced the benefits of digital transformation, for instance with the n-gage.io audience engagement platform, you can upload various multimedia content.

This content, which can be far richer than static information or digital signage, can be unlocked in stages, formats, and engagement levels, triggered by the visitor's proximity via a beacon. For example, a visitor passing a wildlife enclosure or queuing for a ride might spend some time enjoying the experience. Location tracking technology allows their device to communicate with a nearby beacon through a customisable visitor app, initiating a silent interaction.

• This interaction can unlock pre-programmed content, providing more information about what the visitor is seeing.
• It can trigger a push notification for a special offer or a discount voucher directly to the mobile app's digital wallet.

Each interaction contributes to a layer of data within the audience engagement platform’s insights engine. As these layers build, operators can gain a comprehensive picture of visitor movements and engagement. This segmentation enables attractions to personalise experiences further and create tailored offers, incentives, and notifications based on actual on-site visitor behaviour.

Intelligent Wayfinding and Personalisation

Another application of beacon technology involves using data intelligence to suggest similar experiences or exhibits. If visitors want to navigate from Point A to Point B, built-in wayfinding in the app can guide them. Along the route, there are additional opportunities for engagement based on their observed behaviour, resulting in a more enriched, interactive, and personalised experience for the visitor and their family.

Leveraging Data for Post-Visit Engagement

Even after visitors have left, the opportunity to continue engagement persists. Maintaining off-site visitor engagement is crucial for building loyalty, and the n-gage.io insights functionality can help segment audiences based on actual visitor behaviour to personalise off-site in-app communications.

For curators, operations managers, or marketing teams, this on-site data intelligence helps construct audience segments and profiles. These can then be matched with specific offers and messages created within the platform. For example, a wildlife park operator could instruct the system to identify visitors who spent over a certain number of minutes in a particular area or attended a specific keeper talk. These visitors could then receive a live or pre-scheduled message post-visit about purchasing a personalised animal experience.

This information helps determine who receives a 'special' offer and who is most likely to take it up. The duration a visitor spends in front of a display or exhibit is known as 'dwell time', a vital metric for visitor attractions.

Data-Driven Concession Placement

Specifically, to address the question of where to site a new on-site concession, the experience app, tracking visitor movement via GPS and beacons (once uploaded to a smartphone), allows the n-gage platform to monitor how long visitors spend at specific points and identify concentrated footfall patterns over time. This data is critical for determining the optimal positioning of a new concession.

For wildlife parks, zoos, aquariums, and museums, audience data from the platform enables better curation, visitor flow planning, and the personalisation of offers and incentives to drive revenue. This level of data intelligence is comparable to how the retail sector uses it for future tenant marketing or retail store positioning.

The n-gage.io platform serves as an all-in-one, cloud-based attraction management software and audience mobile app, assisting the global attraction, leisure, and entertainment industry in improving operations, enhancing audience engagement, gaining valuable insights, and increasing revenues. To learn more about how n-gage.io can boost and sustain your audience engagement, you can book a demo today.