Can real-time pricing help counter the cost of living crisis?

Associate Supplier Convious explains how real-time pricing can help museums remain competitive and provide visitors with an accessible world-class cultural experience in these challenging times.

The cost-of-living crisis has significantly impacted the museum sector, particularly in visitor attendance and revenue. Cultural organisations are facing the challenge of finding sources of income to support their operations while staying true to their mission and expanding audience reach. Real-time pricing is the next generation of dynamic pricing and is the process of setting prices based on up-to-the-minute demand to deliver a truly customer-centric approach. The real-time pricing algorithm considers many different factors when calculating ticket prices for the date the visitor chooses. These include:

• Your own preferences and business model: What are the highest and lowest ticket prices you want to offer? Do you want to offer lower ticket prices during the school holidays?
• Seasonality: Is the date during peak season or off-peak?
• Historical data: How many tickets did you sell on this date in past years?
• Weather: Is there a chance of poor weather which might result in you selling fewer last-minute tickets that day?
• Traffic on your online ticket shop: Are you currently experiencing higher levels of traffic?

By switching to real-time pricing, venues generally experience a major boost in revenue. They are also able to control the number of people visiting much more effectively. By booking in advance, visitors secure better deals. They also enjoy a more pleasant experience at the museum — without the overcrowding.

Benefits

As the cost of living continues to rise, museums face the challenge of maintaining accessibility while covering their operating expenses. Real-time pricing offers a solution that can help museums by optimising ticket prices based on demand and availability. This can help maximise income during peak periods and encourage visitors to attend during off-peak times, all while providing valuable insights into visitor behaviour and preferences. Real-time pricing strategies have many benefits including helping museums:

Diversify their audiences:

• Reduce economic barriers to attendance
• Respond in real-time to changes in demand and market conditions

Increase income:

• Improve conversion rates
• Have full control over the pricing strategy

Enhance the visitor experience:

• Enable more even distribution of visitors
• Allow better use of resources
• Encourage early bookings.

What’s in it for the visitor?

Attraction management platform innovator Convious and market research experts Baker Richards unveiled the results of research carried out in 2022 into consumer attitudes towards real-time pricing. A major outcome from the research is that clear communication is essential to help people make a good choice and understand how to benefit from the variations in pricing.

“The research highlights something many attractions will recognise – there is intrinsic price sensitivity in the market because of the economic conditions,” Robin Cantrill-Fenwick, Chief Executive, Baker Richards explains.

The first and crucial step is understanding your visitors. With the continued development of innovative solutions such as real-time pricing and mobile apps, museums can continue to evolve and adapt to the changing needs and expectations of their visitors and economical challenges, ensuring that they remain relevant and attractive in today’s fast-paced digital age.

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