Parking remains a weak point in many shopping centers; finding a free space can be time-consuming, especially at peak times. It is important to understand how parking influences the customer experience, both emotionally and on the profitability of the business itself, and what solutions are available in the market to improve customer perception and keep them coming back.
How parking influences the customer experience
Parking is key to the customer’s perception of the shopping center and good parking management can influence their willingness to buy and customer loyalty. It contributes both to the improvement of the customer experience and to the profitability and competitiveness of the center.
1. Improve customer shopping experience
The first experience of many customers visiting shopping centers is often in the parking lot. They expect to park their vehicle as soon as possible to make their purchases or enjoy the leisure activities on offer. This first impression influences their mood and how they will experience the rest of the visit; it can be smooth and positive or, on the contrary, stressful.
Multiple studies of consumer behavior agree that this experience can be a source of frustration and that it has great weight in their willingness to buy, stressed customers are less inclined to do so and may leave sooner because they are not comfortable. It also reduces the chances of loyalty, they are likely not to return another day or decide to buy in another mall where it is easier for them.
Impact on the profitability of the shopping center.
In addition to the emotional component, good mall parking management can also increase your profitability. A smart parking system increases the turnover of parking spaces, so more customers can access and enjoy the site, less queues and congestion are formed by guiding customers to the free spaces they need: VIP, online shopping pick-up, people with reduced mobility or electric vehicles.
Smart Parking also provides relevant and real-time data to improve the experience in the mall, from how many people arrive to what times or days there is more affluence to adapt services and offerings. All this information is very valuable for mall management, who can know what is really happening and make data-driven decisions. The physical shopping experience must be impeccable to face the competition, be it other shopping centers or online commerce itself.
Urbiotica Smart Parking Solutions
Thanks to the technology used in Smart Parking, customers can take up to 40% less time to find a parking space. They make fewer turns and can stay longer in the mall, as well as have a better perception of the more modern and well-managed facility, encouraging them to return as they see that the customer experience is taken into account. In addition, these solutions can operate through their own sensing technology or by integrating data from existing Smart Parking infrastructures, allowing them to send information to variable signage panels, analyze patterns, monitor reserved spaces, and more.
Urbiotica continues to develop guidance solutions for shopping centers designed to meet the real needs of the private sector, no matter how complex the environment. So many years of experience have positioned Urbiotica as a reference in technological innovations in the sector, among them:
1. U-Spot Surface
The highly accurate U-Spot Surface sensor detects whether a parking space is free or occupied in real time. It is placed on the pavement, without the need for building work or wiring, making it ideal for shopping centers with indoor parking or areas where it is not possible to drill holes in the ground, as well as temporary installations or rooftops. Installation is fast and upgradeable for scalable projects. It allows you to start with spaces reserved for specific uses (such as PRM or electric charging) or specific areas, and gradually expand.
2. U-Spot VISIO
U-Spot VISIO are intelligent cameras with artificial intelligence (AI) that are installed in outdoor parking lots to monitor multiple parking spaces at the same time as an alternative to placing a sensor in each of them. Easy to install, without complicated works, they are perfect for parking lots without defined accesses or large parking lots. They are compatible with all detection sensors, whether our U-Spot in-ground or the new U-Spot Surface, for greater coverage and accuracy.
3. U-Display
It is a dynamic signage display that indicates in real time the free spaces available in the entire parking lot, in an area of the parking lot or in one of its floors. It can be connected via a fixed Ethernet network or 4G from almost anywhere without relying on the existing infrastructure of the space. Installation is fast and very convenient in shared or rented parking lots with connectivity limitations.
Shopping centers
Shopping centers that have implemented Smart Parking solutions
1. Shopping City Süd (Austria)
With more than 23 million visitors per year, the Shopping City Süd in Vienna implemented an Urbiotica smart guidance solution to reduce queues, improve its customers’ experience and, consequently, sales at the mall’s stores. Counting sensors were installed to detect vehicles and control access, as well as 100 variable signage panels to indicate to drivers where parking spaces are available.
2. La Torre Outlet (Spain)
The Outlet Tower was looking for an intelligent solution to facilitate its customers’ access to the parking lot, reduce the traffic inside the site and reinforce the image of the shopping center. Urbiotica implemented a counting detection solution in 7 parking zones and 9 variable signage panels that show the occupancy in real time. The U-Admin intelligent parking platform is responsible for centralizing all this data.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can Smart Parking be adapted to any shopping center?
Yes, Urbiotica’s intelligent parking guidance and control systems adapt to different needs, sizes and budgets. It is a scalable solution that can cover first the most compromised areas of the mall and then expand.
In shopping malls, is it better to use buried or aboveground sensors?
Depending on the characteristics of the project, both sensors are equally accurate. Surface sensors are highly recommended for indoor parking lots where drilling is not possible, while buried sensors are more discreet and do not pose an obstacle.
How long does it take to install an Urbiotica Smart Parking system?
The installation of the devices that make up Urbiotica’s solutions is fast and non-invasive. The time varies depending on the size of the project: the installation of a buried sensor takes no more than 10 minutes and that of the surface ones even less.
