How to solve the parking headache for city/town centre businesses As a nation we’re starting to come out of one of the largest disruptions to retail for decades. With town centres and highstreets hit particularly hard by the pandemic it’s important that as part of businesses being able to recover that parking and getting back into those areas is efficient and stress-free. In this blog we’re explaining how to solve some of the parking headaches facing town and city centres in order to welcome back the Great British public. Explore more Parking is hard enough in town and city centres Trying to find somewhere to park is a frustration felt by many, especially when looking forward to a day of retail therapy. Genuine customers having to deal with inconsiderate motorists can be put off from visiting a site (and the businesses connected with it) opting to go elsewhere or shop online. This also impacts business owners and site managers as they face complaints and the risk of a damaged reputation due to poor parking behaviours. It’s common for busy town and city centres to lack adequate parking and local businesses often suffer as a result, with shoppers, commuters, and other visitors looking for parking ‘overflowing’ onto their land. The consequences of this can create issues in space availability for genuine customers, blockages/impasses on site and security. However, beyond the issue of unauthorised parking, there is an opportunity to generate new revenue and support business growth. Transforming your car park At Parkingeye, we’re already helping thousands of businesses deal with unauthorised parking and understand the real impact this can have on staff, customers and ultimately, your business. Symptoms can manifest themselves in several ways; time drained from the facilities team as they wrestle to manage and minimise the abuse, complaints from genuine users and reduced footfall through your doors as potential customers go elsewhere. ANPR technology now acts as a gateway to taking control of your parking and introducing new solutions to help put you back in the driving seat. If you have a site where space is needed exclusively for customers, staff, and visitors – you need to ensure those permitted to park are protected. Permits can be issued to ‘approved’ vehicles quickly and easily via an online portal, the cameras do the rest – automatically detecting any unofficial registration plates which enter your premises and triggering a parking charge to the abusers. For paid parking sites, the system will identify users that have the correct fee and issues a parking charge to those trying to park without paying or abuse the rules on-site. Alternatively, vehicles owned by permitted users can be validated within your premises using a small terminal – available as either a self-service solution or from behind reception. This solution is effective at deterring unauthorised parking on your land effective enforcement and can often be installed free of charge. Innovative solutions If you’d like to open up your facilities to visitor parking, especially outside of working hours, why not generate a new revenue stream for your business with a range of payment solutions? These next-generation kiosks make paying for parking on-site quick and easy, with touchscreen functionality and the option to pay in cash, card or pay-by-phone, along with the ability to accept promotional codes. There’s no need for any physical tickets either as the ANPR technology understands when each visitor entered and left, along with what’s been paid. Our barcode scanner allows for additional functionality should you wish to push offers or discounts to create further opportunity. If you have the capacity to go further, pre-booking both short and long-term stays is an ideal option. Whether parking for the day or the month, offering available space to regular shoppers for instance – either for a day, a week or monthly – could be a win-win. At zero cost to you, we can utilise our software and state-of-the-art ANPR cameras to manage all the booking admin, ensure the correct tariffs are charged and support online payment so you can get back to business knowing you’re in safe hands. What’s more, we can even track the flow into your car park to ensure available space remains free for other users such as staff and customers. This way, you solve a parking headache for the local community whilst creating a new margin rich revenue stream for the business. Pre-booking is just one of the cashless solutions we’re able to facilitate. We can also help you remove the stress of finding the right change or queuing at payment kiosks through Pay-by-Mobile and Autopay. Pay-by-Mobile allows users to pay for their parking over the phone or via an app or website. Meanwhile, Autopay leverages ANPR to log entry and exit times for a vehicle and bill the user automatically for their parking through a top-up account or pay-as-you-go system. This completely removes any time restraints and stress from needing to park, allowing a user to simply drive in and out of a car park. Another concern associated with car parking abuse is security and the lack of visibility often felt by businesses suffering abuse from unauthorised vehicles. Our powerful data analytics provide detailed performance and behavioural insight. This helps you to not only see how your site is performing but track evolving customer need, ensuring any future decisions you make around your site have the maximum benefit to visitors. Car par management solutions for city centres If you’re suffering abuse from town and city centre visitors, you’re not alone. With the right support and blend of solutions, tailored to suit your specific needs, we can help you transform your parking, improve your customer experience and streamline the services you offer. Find out more →
