Price Comparison Parking Websites: Improved Visibility and Customer Retention

ParkCloud has a network of individually-branded sales portals (targeting Airport, Port and Train Station parking), comprehensive parking portals (covering all parking possibilities in a wide variety of locations) and tailored websites (created on demand for specific markets or brands, e.g. airlines): all of which work by comparing different parking options.
 
Each portal is divided into locations and each location lists as many car parking options as possible in order to maximise consumer choice. In fact, each parking option has its own unique selling points, which are highlighted in order to appeal to a different kind of customer. Thus, the customer chooses the car park that meets their needs: some select by price, some by service, others by distance, to cite a few.

On-site airport parking operators apply the comparison technique on their own websites; ParkCloud furthers this opportunity by creating new channels and making the different car parks visible, side-by-side on price comparison websites with off-airport car parks, allowing consumers to draw their own conclusions on value for money and convenience.

Consumers often have a preconception that official airport parking is expensive. By appearing on a price comparison website, the unique services the airport has to offer get put next to private car parks and customers can more clearly see the advantages: proximity is the most obvious, but also price and in certain cases security. If the comparison website includes a booking engine (as do ParkCloud’s), the customer picks and books their car park there and then; more choice drives customers to make a booking there and then, generating more revenue. Take away choice and you lose customers.

Since its origins, ParkCloud has developed price comparison websites including booking engines to ensure customer retention. Regional airports in particular have seen the comparison website as an opportunity to increase their visibility and thanks to this kind of website, the majority of customers that arrive by car to the airport will park on-site. The prevalence of e-commerce and pre-booking are the main reasons: in the past, private car parks were more visible on-line than the airports’ own ones, and reducing prices seemed to be the only way to regain customers. But as the internet came to dominate, airports decided to appear alongside private car parks and in a few years this tactic has made it possible for them to start regaining their market.

A comparison website is a marketplace: a customer does not need to go and look anywhere else as they come on one website, and stay on it, analysing the various options and choosing the car park that is made for them. In this way, consumers will be satisfied by the experience and therefore will return and book again.

All consumer websites created by ParkCloud are designed to be simple and easy to use, with an integrated booking system; content is optimised to be search engine-friendly, clear and concise, to maximise visibility.

About ParkCloud

ParkCloud, founded in 2008, is a pan-European provider of car park reservation systems and online marketing services, operating more than 100 websites in 12 different languages, on behalf of hundreds of car parks across 24 countries.

http://www.parkcloud.com

Contact Details

ParkCloud Ltd
Valentina Moise
Marketing Manager
valentina.moise@parkcloud.com