By Errol Gayle
Are you certain you’re getting the maximum revenue from your parking rates? A yield management strategy like those used by airlines and hotels allows parking facilities to set the right price for the right driver at the right time. Here are the building blocks for yield management:
- Pricing Strategy: Fixed or Dynamic?
Fixed pricing is a set price based on a recurring situation, such as regular, holiday, or special event rates. Dynamic pricing is flexible and based on real-time demand and inventory, giving a parking operator nimble pricing that can increase revenue.
- Parking Space Inventory
Managing parking space inventory should be done strategically. By assigning blocks of spaces to specific price tiers based on demand forecast and dynamic pricing, parking space allotment works closely with dynamic pricing to produce the highest yield.
- Forecasting
Forecasting uses historical customer data to track, analyze, and reach logical conclusions based on past events and present trends. Using historical data for past holidays, seasons, weekdays and weekends, paired with current trends or circumstances gives an operator the ability to make an intelligent forecast for probable parking demand.
- Data and Reporting
Access to customer data and a robust reporting function is key to pricing strategy, parking space inventory management, and forecasting. Data and reporting are often packaged within an online parking reservation system.
Errol Gayle is vice president, business development, with Parking Reservation Software.