How to add value in your tourist attraction retail store

The tourism retail experience can greatly impact visitors’ overall trip, whether they’ve travelled internationally, are on staycation, or are day-tripping.

Delivering more experiential value and retail theatre in your store can not only boost your short-term revenue but help you build sustainable business growth. Positive retail experiences generate loyal customers who will return as well as recommend your business online or by word of mouth.

Here are simple tactics on how to improve customer experience in retail stores, and of course, increase profits in the process! Consider how you can build the necessary processes your business will need to successfully sustain the delivery of these fundamental tactics.

1. Identify experiential opportunities

Unique retail experiences are the best way to get people talking about your business and achieve more foot traffic through the door - whether it’s photogenic displays that maximise retail theatre, or themed events.

Attractions that offer family-wide experiences suitable across demographics can sell out well in advance. Particularly when they are designed to celebrate the season, national heritage, or an occasion. Themed events help attract more visitors and will deliver lasting brand awareness far beyond the promoted event. Consider what scale of event your business could deliver, whether it’s a month-long event, to a children’s tea party with staff in costumes.

Your best-selling retail products and price points can provide strong indicators of the interests of your core customer demographic. For example, a gift shop that sells lots of soft animal toys could inspire a Wildlife Day or Night at the Zoo type of experience with the use of holographic projectors for theatrical effect.

However, not every experience needs to be a well-planned and managed event. Small retail experience improvements will set you apart from the competition and make sure your tourist attraction is first choice.

Consider simple ways to improve your everyday retail experience by including retail theatre features such as interactive displays and themed installations, photo opportunities with fun props and backgrounds, and experiential extras like an ice cream counter with seating.

2. Offer online tickets

Make it easy for tourists to plan their trip in advance, avoiding queues or disappointment during their visit. It will also ensure that more intended visits are actually carried out.

In addition, you can better plan capacity and generate the necessary cash flow for delivering novelty events, theatrical displays, or special retail experiences.

3. Upsell and presell add-ons

Whether it’s during an online booking process or at the ticket kiosk, promote add-ons that cater to higher budgets and deliver extra value for more engaged visitors.

That includes optional VIP experiences at an extra fee, a prepaid discount for food & drinks, and any promoted items such as gift bags and best-selling souvenirs. Again, this helps you optimise stock purchasing and reduce wastage.

4. Include in-store promotions

Promotions are an easy way to generate more impulse purchases. Rotate promotions around seasonal or monthly themes, and use colourful signage to draw attention to your promotions.

Bundling best-selling items together with complementary products is an effective tactic to increase basket value and shift any stock with slower turnover.

5. Refine your product pricing strategy

Fine-tune the balance between product quality and the right price points for your best customers. Dedicate more display space to items within best-selling price brackets, and position them towards the entrance of your store to draw in more high-intent customers. Focus your retail theatre strategy around your most popular stock.

6. Refresh and rearrange your store periodically

Finally, keep up to date with consumer trends and customer preferences by experimenting with your floor layout, feature displays and stock selections. The goal is to maximise impulse appeal and create sustained business growth. A planogram tool can be invaluable in helping you with this process.

Customers want the new and novel, so continually creating fresh retail experiences will help you improve the customer experience, retention, and lifetime value. Analyse and reconsider the performance of your floor layout, feature displays and stock selection themes every 6 months to help continually optimise profits.

How Keycraft can help

Keycraft offers colourful wholesale toy brands that generate more profit for any tourist attraction.

From realistic animal soft toys to higher-quality pocket money toys, and eye-catching display stands offering more retail theatre, we’ve helped numerous tourist attractions grow their retail revenue streams.

Contact our knowledgeable team anytime for a free retail consultation. It’s our pleasure to provide recommendations for wholesale toys that will deliver the most appeal to your customer demographic!