MAXIMISING POOLSIDE RETAIL SALES WINDOWS
Swimming pools in the leisure sector have historically operated at a loss, but now great strides are being made to reverse this situation and transform retail in this area. Parks are focusing on optimising the potential of poolside retail not just from a stock listing perspective, but crucially how retail is delivered. Children’s swim specialist Splash About is at the forefront of this change, having only entered the market three years ago when it acquired wholesaler SRS Leisure.
Despite the Covid pandemic, the brand now works with 85% of UK Holiday Parks including Haven, Park Dean, Center Parcs, Away Resorts and Butlins. Splash About supplies a range of family fun swim products, from inflatables, swim toys, arm bands, and goggles to reusable swim nappies, rash tops and costumes. However, its affordable products are not the main reason why poolside retail is enjoying a boom period, success is attributed to the integrated retail solution and innovative, fresh approach the company deploys onsite.
Splash About focuses on strategic merchandising, online ordering, and stock guarantees, all designed to optimise retail sales, especially during peak trading periods. Bespoke marketing and merchandising capitalise on space, creating a ‘retail theatre experience’ for its range of swim products. Attractive, clean, streamlined displays are all designed to withstand the sub-tropical temperatures of retail pool areas and product is strategically displayed to maximise sales.
Its unique retail solution incorporates a dedicated account person, bespoke branding to convey the individual ethos and customer demographic of each Holiday Park and deliver a range of products to truly reflect customer requirements. The integrated retail solution provides bespoke web portals, showing stock levels in real time, to not only accelerate the ordering process but to reduce the reliance on manual ordering. Analysis of sales data, automated re-order and pre-agreed product replenish can all be enabled with stock level guarantees and next day delivery to optimise sales during critical trading times.
It’s testament to Splash About’s distinctive approach that an initial three-month trial at Center Parc’s Elveden Forest site, to gauge whether its range of family fun swim products would appeal to its holiday makers, was such a success that the trial was extended to all its other parks after only six weeks. Forward thinking Holiday Parks are taking an all-encompassing approach to optimising poolside retail, which as a result could really help to keep their company’s head above water in these challenging economic times.
Splash About
info@splashabout.com
www.splashabout.com