In just eight months, contactless payment and loyalty solution Zapper has reduced time to exit for parking users by 43% at Cape Town’s busiest mall, Canal Walk. The parking solution has also shown a marked decrease in payment friction as well as reducing the centre’s cash requirements and associated costs.
The Zapper system was launched at Canal Walk in partnership with Servest in August 2020. The QR code-based mobile payment solution now accounts for 6.3% of payments with credit card payments accounting for 14% and the remainder coming from cash. The solution has also shown faster time to exit data as shoppers are able to avoid queuing at payment stations, simply using their mobile phones to scan and pay for their parking.
“We are greatly encouraged by the result at Canal Walk. As Africa’s third-largest shopping mall, finding ways to lower payment friction makes a meaningful difference on the overall customer journey. Congestion at payment points will, in many cases, be the last impression shoppers have of the centre so cutting down on exit time is definitely a big benefit. We are also very pleased to be able to help the centre reduce the amount of cash transactions, which is another operational win” comments Brett White, CEO of Zapper.
Managing cash has become increasingly burdensome for property owners and moving towards digital options is a growing business priority.
“Data shows that Zapper is being used rather than cash with credit card usage remaining fairly steady since its launch. Cashless payments allow us to reduce our onsite cash float thereby reducing risk and our insurance cover. Going digital also means we see a reduction in the number of cash in transit collections which is good for us and our customers,” explains Gavin Wood, general manager at Canal Walk.
The benefits of keeping people moving and congestion to a minimum is also high on the agenda when it comes to the overall customer experience. By opting to pay via Zapper, Wood says shoppers avoid the pay station queues altogether with Canal Walk data showing Zapper users’ time to exit 43% faster than those using credit cards or cash.
Canal Walk is one of several parking integrations done throughout the country. Zapper’s 1D barcodes and 2D QR code solutions have also been deployed at Cape Gate, Urban Square, Wembley Square, Eikestad Mall, Melrose Arch, and Fourways with Lynwood Bridge in Pretoria coming soon.
The company has been working closely with parking management companies Servest, HubParking, Skidata and their partners to ensure smooth rollouts across the country. Rollout to the rest of Servest (Designa system), Skidata, and HubParking (Zeag system) venues nationwide will continue over the coming months.
Canal Walk management says based on the benefits they have already seen, they will be continuing to promote the payment method both at their parking facilities as well as inside the mall. They have kicked this drive off by incentivising shoppers to park four times and get the fifth free.
“The current behaviour of customers when paying clearly shows that a more focussed campaign driving Zapper payments will see an even greater take-up and help us further lower our operational parking costs. It will also provide the mall with valuable data on our customers. This can then be extracted and used by both our tenants and for targeted marketing of Canal Walk,” says Wood.
Zapper’s anonymised data gives valuable insights into customer behaviour and can help merchants develop targeted marketing campaigns to drive business.
“The real power of our solution lies in how it can holistically improve your business. Of course the operational benefits of the solution will be clear from the start, but the real magic occurs over time. The more customers transact, the more you gain insight into their behaviour and what they want. This anonymised data is the real currency of Zapper and, when put to use, the merchant can turn it into a transformative competitive advantage,” White adds.
