Digital solutions are transforming South Africa’s parking industry and the overall user experience
By Charmaine Zungu
Johannesburg, 14 August 2023: The parking industry in South Africa has long been associated with frustration, inefficiency, and wasted time for both customers and operators. However, rapid advancements in digital technology, have presented an opportunity to transform the South African parking industry and elevate the overall customer experience across various domains, including shopping complexes, commercial real estate, and residential areas.
Research shows that consumers are more likely to go to a shopping centre or a store where they can park easily and get out just as easily. More and more, we are seeing parking experiences influencing retail trends and consumer behaviour.
The adoption of technological solutions and the shift towards cashless transactions in South Africa have been a game changer in the parking industry and to the overall customer experience of retail, corporate, and other facilities. We have seen the industry introduce a number of changes propelled by the influence of technology and evolving patterns of mobility.
The parking industry is also experiencing a revolutionary shift with the emergence of advanced smart parking solutions, driving a transition from manual systems to digital and convenient systems that do not take the shopper out of their way.
Consumers have access to real-time updates on parking availability. There are mobile applications for streamlined parking management that leverage data-driven analytics to optimise operational efficiencies to deliver the most convenient solutions to consumers. The ability to understand customer needs across industry sectors has been crucial in driving some of the changes that we are seeing in the parking industry and this has propelled the introduction of a range of payment options, value-added services, and technologies to enable convenience and enhance the customer experience of parking spaces across retail, corporate and other facilities.
The surge in demand for cashless solutions has prompted parking service providers like ourselves to embrace technologies, to enhance parking access control and automate payment procedures.
These are some of the cutting-edge digital technologies currently making waves in the parking industry:
Tap and go, is a service that allows users to use their contactless credit or debit card to pay for their parking. Users simply tap their card on the entry panel of the car park and again on the exit panel.
Zapper is a cashless solution that is fully automated for the processing of parking ticket payments. Zapper provides an alternative pay point that provides a convenient parking management solution for consumers.
The Snap Scan app provides an easy and convenient contactless parking payment solution. By simply scanning the QR code or barcode on their parking ticket, consumers are able to pay for their parking tickets from the palm of their hands, – their cellphones. Once the scan and payment process is completed, you can skip the pay station and head straight to the exit booms.
Kaching is another cashless, ticketless, user-friendly parking app that uses license plate recognition to open a boom when a user arrives at a parking lot. Payment is linked to the user’s credit card or pre-paid account and directly linked to their license plate. KaChing makes your parking experience hassle-free and cost-effective.
These changes have eliminated the need for customers to queue to make payments; they can now settle their parking tickets conveniently on their mobile phones and from inside their vehicles. We are seeing that embracing technology as an enabler to improving the customer experience is becoming essential to staying ahead of the curve with evolving customer demands.
Charmaine Zungu is the Loss Control Director, Servest Parking at Servest facilities management company