Robert Horton, Founder of First Class Valet, discusses how shopping centres can improve the customer experience and remove one of the biggest pain points for shoppers this Christmas. 

We’ve spent the good part of two years focused on being flexible, agile and solving challenges we never thought possible. As things start to feel more normal again, we need to turn our focus on customer experience as our shopping centres continue to attract customers. With this Christmas season likely to be the most ‘normal’ in a long time, the time to start planning for the peak retail season is now.

We all know that parking is one of the biggest pain points for shopping centres, so why not make the problem the advantage at your centre?

We recently launched our full valet parking service at Indooroopilly Shopping Centre in Brisbane. Known as ‘Indro’ to locals, this premium Queensland centre has set the standard by offering a valet parking service, and at just $5 on weekdays, and $10 on weekends it’s already proving popular with customers.

Valet parking service at Indooroopilly Shopping Centre, Brisbane

As retail sales performance remains strong, we look forward to a successful Christmas season. The peak period will arrive before we know it, so planning and preparation for service delivery with a good team and effective operations has to start today. It’s time to impress customers with exceptional service at your shopping centre and support your retailers during these peak periods as much as possible. It may take a long time for some shoppers to recover from the lockdowns but any special customer experience offer will help to keep them loyal and spend more at your shopping centre.

Consider this – add valet parking as a service, remove the pain point of parking and that customer will spend at least 30 minutes more time in your centre. If done correctly, not only can you offset the costs of providing the service, but it also opens the door for sponsorship and commercialisation opportunities as well. Our experts work with centre management teams to ensure the best operational plan is in place to maximise your valet parking outcomes.

Research has shown for any extra minute you can get customers to stay they spend another $1 per minute in your centre. As margins tighten in retail and the cost of goods soar, improving any element to encourage customers to spend is a critical strategic decision to make at your centre.

FCV offer hands-free shopping for that extra VIP service

First Class Valet partners with centres to work out the best solutions. Here are the common ways shopping centres use our services:

Labour hire services – We take care of the time-consuming tasks of recruitment and training and provide skilled labour, so you can focus on your core strategies. This is the perfect solution to meet the peak demand periods as our team members work together with your teams, or fill the temporary period of higher demand such as Christmas retail periods. All our team members are trained at the First Class Valet Academy, where we have high expectations for the level of service we provide. Plus, we only hire people that love customer service.

Pop Up Valet – We offer a temporary solution to wow your customers during peak seasonal periods or special events. We help you find the best operational solutions to be able to provide a valet parking service – it’s a perfect way to test your market by adding this customer experience to the mix. We also offer hands-free shopping for that extra VIP service.

Licensed technology – At First Class Valet we have the licensed technology to manage the operations of valet parking that is ticketless and importantly delivers the ultimate in convenient customer service. This technology is widely used by more than 2.5 million users monthly worldwide and offers a ticketless and seamless customer experience. The system is a one-stop shop for analytics and performance reporting allowing companies to assess their valet operations easily. We find our clients highly value this data to make future decisions and to report success internally.

Operational assessments – If you’re undertaking a parking audit or considering offering valet parking, we can share our extensive knowledge by conducting an onsite assessment. This entails our team advising on-site locations and cost modelling, so you can make informed decisions.

If you visit most shopping centres in the US, they offer valet parking as a ‘hygiene’ factor. Similar to the fact we in Australia now offer free wifi at shopping centres. And why do they offer valet parking? It fundamentally entitles customers to a higher value proposition – by saving time and reducing hassle.

Start investing time into organising your valet service and put your budget to good use

Our team have experience in the shopping centre and retail industry, and we understand the complexity of this fast-paced environment so we can work on a bespoke service for your centre.

Give your higher value proposition the time it deserves and the planning time it needs. Most customer experience strategies that aren’t well thought out or rushed will often fail. Well-planned valet parking offerings not only benefit the customer but can actually be commercialised and marketed properly. Start investing time into organising your valet service now and put your budget to good use. Visit our website to find out more