Parking is an essential asset for airports, accounting for up to 25% of all non-aeronautical revenue. It is also crucial to an airport’s overall efficiency and success. After all, if passengers can easily, quickly and safely park their vehicles, they’re more likely to check in on time, arrive at their gate in plenty of time to catch their flight, and, best of all, enjoy a positive experience with your airport.
Unfortunately, managing airport parking isn’t always high on the priority list. Often airports are guilty of building the infrastructure without considering how best to manage and optimise its use. Some even hand parking management over to a third-party vendor, missing out on valuable customer data and revenue.
The truth is that by simply investing in smart parking systems, airports can regain control of their parking operations with automation and real-time data. Here we will take a closer look at airport parking management software and why your airport needs it.
What is parking management software?
Today, smart parking systems tend to incorporate centralised parking management and online reservations. Parking management tools enable airports and other businesses and venues to manage their existing space better and optimise their car parks to make them more efficient, safer and profitable.
With online parking reservations, airports can sell parking to passengers via their ecommerce website or app instead of through a third-party vendor. This functionality enables airports to gain more control over their car parks and manage multiple fee types and contactless payments rather than relying on the traditional (and somewhat outdated) pay-and-display format.
Why have an online parking system?
Smart parking systems provide a simple way to make your airport or venue more efficient and innovative. As we journey through this recovery period following the COVID-19 pandemic, it makes sense that airports continue to optimise their most valuable assets, and parking is certainly one of them.
Here are just a few reasons to invest in an airport parking system:
Online parking systems are easy to implement
Adopting a new airport parking system does not have to disrupt your entire operations. Choose a flexible plug-and-play solution, like the Rezcomm Marketplace, and launch your parking management and online reservation system in just 8-12 weeks. Moreover, its user-friendly design will ensure your airport teams won’t have any difficulties using the system, and we’ll provide ongoing support to ensure a seamless transition.
Easy to maintain & great customer service
Choose an online parking system and benefit from upgrades and new releases as they become available at no additional cost. If there are any problems, Rezcomm’s customer support is on hand 24/7 to answer your questions and ensure you’re getting the most from your online parking system.
Improve user experience
Better airport car park management leads to happier customers. Firstly, enabling customers to pre-book parking reservations online via your airport website or app helps to relieve some of their travel anxiety and ensures their experience with your airport gets off to a positive start. The more relaxed they feel parking at your airport (knowing they have a space and their vehicle is safe), the more likely they’ll be in the mood to spend money in your airport retail stores and food and beverage outlets.
It’s also worth remembering that a positive passenger experience leads to repeat bookings. So even if a customer only parks with you (rather than booking flights through your airport, too), if you offer a great user experience with expert parking management, they’ll be more likely to book more services with your airport in the future.
Reduce staff workload
A final reason to invest in smart parking systems is to minimise staff involvement. By automating your parking reservations system, you can reduce some of the tedious administration tasks your airport teams manage or outsource while saving money.
Benefits of smart parking systems
Parking is a huge money maker for airports, but we often find operators aren’t making the most of their assets. Smart parking systems are vital in identifying revenue-making opportunities, reducing costs, optimising customer data, and even helping airports become cleaner and greener.
Increase parking revenue
Smart parking systems like Rezcomm’s Reservations module come with advanced yield management tools, enabling airports to increase revenue from their existing car parks. What’s more, by managing their own airport car parks, operators have all the data they need at their fingertips to create a dynamic pricing strategy where they can respond quickly to changes and drive as much revenue as possible from their existing assets.
Reduce staffing costs
Airports can cut costs by using a smart parking system rather than outsourcing car park management to a third party. Additionally, staffing costs are reduced as an airport parking system is largely automated. Airports can retrain and repurpose staff from car park management roles, reducing the need to employ new staff to work in customer-facing roles that require a ‘human element.’
Access real-time parking & customer data
One of the biggest benefits to airports of having an online parking system is gaining valuable customer data. With this data, airports can get to know the people who park with them and better understand their behaviour and buying habits for more targeted marketing and offers in the future. It also creates an opportunity to increase awareness of your airport offerings and educate customers about other purchases they can make, such as flights, airport lounge or even pre-order food and beverage. Essentially, access to more data helps airports build a better customer experience while increasing revenue.
At the same time, access to real-time parking data like occupancy, sensor, and length-of-stay data is hugely beneficial for airports. It helps to determine pricing strategies, and airports can leverage it for better decision-making. Read our blog post, ‘7 Key Principles of Prebook Parking’, to learn more.
Improve environmental credentials
It’s also worth touching on the environmental benefits of using an airport parking system. For example, making it quicker and easier for passengers to reserve and locate a parking space can reduce queuing and congestion and help cut fuel usage and emissions.
Features to look for in smart parking systems
Finding the best smart parking system for your airport is key, and with various parking management tools out there, it’s wise to think about the features you need. For example:
- Online parking reservation management so customers can book airport parking through your ecommerce website or app
- Contactless payment processing
- The ability to manage different types of parking, permits and passes
- Tracking inbound and outbound traffic from your car park
- Managing car parks across multiple locations from a centralised system
- Real-time data reports on space utilisation, revenues and other KPIs
- Yield management tools
- Parking ecommerce tools for running and managing promotions and offering cross-sells and upgrades to drive revenue
These are some of the tools and features you should look for in an online parking system, and all (and more) are included in the Rezcomm Reservations module.
Additionally, our airport parking system is easily integrated with other parking equipment. It can also be paired with other modules from the Rezcomm Marketplace, enabling you to sell ancillary products or services to customers in a single basket. Combined with Rezcomm’s Customer Relationship Management, Business Intelligence and Marketing modules, you can benefit from a full circle solution for monitoring and managing your parking data, engaging with customers and ultimately, unlocking more revenue from your existing assets.
Ready to see what we’re all about? Download our Reservations Brochure to learn more about our airport parking system and Book a Meeting to discuss your airport’s needs with our experts.
Orchestrating digital strategy, Victoria Wallace is Rezcomm’s Chief Digital Officer. With specialisations ranging from digital marketing and CRM to UX design and ecommerce, she is an expert in integrating innovation and technology to deliver outstanding results in sectors like travel, parking, and airports.
