This month’s product feature spotlight is all about creating efficiencies for adventure travel teams and positive outcomes from expanding the guest experience.
However, first, we want to give a huge kudos to all outfitters, operators and adventure parks for all the challenging moments they managed in 2021. Last year’s trends suggest a rise in digital nomads, ruralization and “buy local” — all hinting at even more growth for 2022.
In fact, when we took a look at the year-end total guest visits to PicThrive customer online stores, we can see all volumes up in 2021 over 2020, which tells us many of you had a great year with your incremental revenues from retail.
Using technology to change the guest experience
The primary success we hear across PicThrive customers is what a change they see in the guest experience they are able to deliver.
Every adventure travel outfitter may define the guest experience a little differently, but there are a few things we can all agree create a positive outcome.
- Guests will experience less issues the more we streamline the steps they have to take (before, during and after their adventure).
- Customers appreciate when you anticipate their needs.
We used this lens to look at the guest experience within the media retail process — streamline and anticipate. It’s not just about the uploading or the sharing, it’s about every touch along their journey. You can get ideas to make your summer easier in 30 days by reviewing your retail strategy and guest experience in using our Pre-Season Checklist.
We’ve been hard at work problem solving and innovating in partnership with customers. Over the past several months, we’ve prioritized product innovation to expand what you can deliver to your guests. And we will continue to explore emerging tech opportunities that can advance the whole of adventure travel.
Capturing new customer insights by tracking Reviews & Shares in Galleries
New Sales & Marketing Analytics reports are giving PicThrive customers a view into guest behavior. Knowing the total clicks on TripAdvisor and Google Reviews or the number of times a guest has shared images in their gallery can give operators new insights into WHAT is working and WHO is engaging.
> Need tips for encouraging more reviews? Read When and How To Ask For Reviews and Respond.
Reducing staff time with more automation
PicThrive Instant gives savvy operators and outfitters new workflow automation so it’s even easier for staff to manage the video and photo retail side. And guests can instantly buy and share videos and photos with their phones whenever they want.
Since the media is made automatically available to guests, there’s no need for staff to hassle with loading USBs or managing long lines.
Expanding the purchase experience
- Adding “Find my photos” buttons on the home page or in the navigation menu cut down on extra questions of where to look.
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Customers using the 24/7 Online Store are seeing great results accepting Google Pay and Apple Pay.
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Using Kiosks with a Square card reader works well to avoid a queue at the register.
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Guests are previewing the same high-quality images and videos both on their phones and at in-store kiosks making sure they get what they see and feel ready to purchase in the moment.
Innovating the guest experience
We started PicThrive in 2015 with the primary goal of helping tour operators expand how guests experience outdoor adventures by enhancing how services are provided.
We’ve weathered the last two years alongside everyone in the tourism space, and we’re now full of optimism and ideas. We’re always working with our customers to innovate the guest experience. And we welcome input from anyone out there, so please feel free to reach us any time.
Get the full PicThrive experience with a live demo.
