Dynamic Pricing is coming to Towers

[Dave]

Spot on. By altering prices does not change the demand for a place like Towers, all it does is create opportunities to maximise revenue. Those who are looking to visit on a sunny day in the summers holiday will not suddenly decide a wet mid-week visit for a few £ less is suddenly for them.

The CenterParks situation is a great example. The massively inflate prices during school holidays because they know they will still have high occupancy. Most holiday companies do the same. What you will find happen, is that Merlin will raise prices during school holidays (more so on days that are typically 'summery'). Yep, this is solely about profiteering.

It does change demand but in a grossly unfair way, people without kids can and will adjust their plans and go during the low cost periods which will balance out crowds to an extent. The issue is families will see the worst of the price and may struggle to go.

At the moment it does seem to be that they are reducing off peak pricing rather than increasing peak pricing but I have little faith it will stay that way.

 

[delta79]

I wonder how dynamic the pricing will be?
Will it change during the day?
People decide to go to AT on a cheap day, lots do it and it become busy, would later arriving guests get charged more.

 

[jon81uk]

It does change demand but in a grossly unfair way, people without kids can and will adjust their plans and go during the low cost periods which will balance out crowds to an extent. The issue is families will see the worst of the price and may struggle to go.

At the moment it does seem to be that they are reducing off peak pricing rather than increasing peak pricing but I have little faith it will stay that way.

I expect it will also reward those who book early, so the busy days will only go up to very high prices in the last week or two beforehand, putting people off going when its already very busy. But families who plan ahead will still pay £34-39 if they book weeks/months before.

 

[Alphe86]

I expect it will also reward those who book early, so the busy days will only go up to very high prices in the last week or two beforehand, putting people off going when its already very busy. But families who plan ahead will still pay £34-39 if they book weeks/months before.

This is what I expect will happen.
I’m (tentatively) in favour. Anything which screams to people “YES YOUR BORED , YES ITS BANK HOLIDAY TODAY, AVOID!” Has to be for the best . If they can take just 10% from those super peak days and put them somewhere else with a financial incentive then it’s a small win.

 

[jon81uk]

This is what I expect will happen.
I’m (tentatively) in favour. Anything which screams to people “YES YOUR BORED , YES ITS BANK HOLIDAY TODAY, AVOID!” Has to be for the best . If they can take just 10% from those super peak days and put them somewhere else with a financial incentive then it’s a small win.

Yep, Easter Saturday is up to £44 and Saturday 13th April is now £47, that to me is a clear signal those days are very busy and you are best to avoid. There are still a few £35-37 school holiday weekdays for Easter though. Currently the whole of August is £37 but I expect as we get closer there will also be the £40+ prices to put people off the very busy days.

 

[Relife]

Nothing like ripping off parents in the school holidays, we are used to it with holiday prices I'm surprised it's taken Merlin this long.

 

[jon81uk]

Nothing like ripping off parents in the school holidays, we are used to it with holiday prices I'm surprised it's taken Merlin this long.

Where’s the rip-off, school holiday prices are currently mainly £37 which I think is about the same as last year and only £3 more per ticket than a 2for1.

The people that will pay higher prices are those who don’t plan in advance and book last minute, especially for Saturdays.

 

[Alphe86]

Nothing like ripping off parents in the school holidays, we are used to it with holiday prices I'm surprised it's taken Merlin this long.

You say ripping off. Do any families really enjoy themselves knowing they’re gonna get like 4 rides at best?

 

[Relife]

You say ripping off. Do any families really enjoy themselves knowing they’re gonna get like 4 rides at best?

Some families don't have a choice. My Mrs is a teacher so even if I wanted to take the kids out of school I can't as we won't be able to go as a family. Let's be honest hear it's families with kids that will be disproportionately affected here. Id love to go off peak but don't have that choice.

 

[Alphe86]

Admittedly so. But would it be worth paying (insignificantly more if you buy in advance as shown above) if the end result is less people as closer to the day people are put off impulse buying and the net result is lower crowd numbers?

 

[Relife]

If you get a warm few days in the holidays the park will be hammered regardless of pricing. I'm not convinced it will.make a huge difference it's just another way of Merlin to make money and they are not the only ones chasing the 'dynamic pricing' gold rush

 

[jesterrace989]

Pretty simple

Improve the capacity and park infrastructure to accommodate more people

More rides, better food, better transport, better events.

More eating options, more indoor and filler rides, better transport options, better resort options, lighting/paths/monorail improvements etc

I second better food. It's dreadful and the prices are a joke. If the food was actually pretty good I wouldn't mind paying the current prices

 

[Tom]

If you get a warm few days in the holidays the park will be hammered regardless of pricing. I'm not convinced it will.make a huge difference it's just another way of Merlin to make money and they are not the only ones chasing the 'dynamic pricing' gold rush

Depends where the limits are, if it rises to say £80 during an August heatwave, and is £29 elsewhere, we shall see.

It depends how bold they are prepared to be, i.e. as bold as Ticketmaster or an airline? Also if/how they manage annual pass numbers differently will be interesting.

 

[jon81uk]

Depends where the limits are, if it rises to say £80 during an August heatwave, and is £29 elsewhere, we shall see.

It won’t go over £68 for now as that’s the current “on the gate” price, but I think we will see £50-60 prices in the week before busy Saturdays again.

 

[Tom]

The top price can, has, and will likely change though.

Also, true dynamic pricing would not have an upper limit. If there's one seat left on a flight, all you need is one rich person to pay thousands.

Will be interesting to see how much they let it loose, at both ends. The circa 3,000 people dead days for example - could they drop to say £19?

 

[ScottishChris]

Most dynamic pricing calculations operate on a base price plus up-to 70%. A paper in Tourism Management described dynamic pricing as a mechanism to "maximising revenue". For anyone thinking this is Merlin being nice and incentivising people to visit during quieter periods - you are surely kidding yourself. Other than us sad thoosies, people plan their trips to towers in advance. They will select dates on family availability and perceived weather etc. They don't have a massive deal of flexibility in their dates. Due to this, the effect on deterring people on certain dates will be minimal. And after you have promised the family you are going to Towers, it is a hard thing to back-track on. I mean Southport Pleasureland is fun... but it's not the same.

A calculation was worked out a few years ago with relation to Dynamic Pricing in the hotel industry. It clearly shows a base price which is 'built' upon. So, by it's very nature, it is not about reducing prices, but increasing them.

The circa 3,000 people dead days for example - could they drop to say £19?

I doubt it will ever be £19. £29 looks like the lowest price.

 

[jon81uk]

For anyone thinking this is Merlin being nice and incentivising people to visit during quieter periods - you are surely kidding yourself. Other than us sad thoosies, people plan their trips to towers in advance. They will select dates on family availability and perceived weather etc.

But for most of those who do plan ahead they won't notice most of the dynamic pricing. For example all of August is currently £37, so those who are planning ahead for the school holidays will pay the same price, but I expect as we get into July all the Saturdays will have increased in price and therefore its those booking with a month of less notice who will pay more (or choose somewhere else to visit, or pick a different date), the planners will still pay the lowest prices.

Another example is the Saturday 13th April being higher priced than others, I expect that would have been cheaper a few weeks ago, so those who did plan over a month in advance are paying less than those booking with shorter notice.

 

[Shaggy_Dog_]

It does change demand but in a grossly unfair way, people without kids can and will adjust their plans and go during the low cost periods which will balance out crowds to an extent. The issue is families will see the worst of the price and may struggle to go.

At the moment it does seem to be that they are reducing off peak pricing rather than increasing peak pricing but I have little faith it will stay that way.

I noticed whilst trying to book the Sun Savers tickets for Towers that the offer no longer has any free tickets available during any weekends or school holiday times. Instead they offer tickets as £20 each at weekends and holidays as part of that offer. This struck me as a really bad change for parents on low incomes as what would previously have been a free day out for a parent and child now costs £40 which is a big jump. I’ve got doubt that the change in the Sun offer is part of Merlin’s new strategy regarding pricing and what they deem to be peak days.

Even with just the regular dynamic pricing now I suspect that it might lead a few more parents to plan a midweek trip and tell the school that their child isn’t feeling great that day…

 

[Matt.GC]

School holidays, as we've discussed in other threads, are not synchronised nationally. I get that there are some people who can only go when the kids are off school. But that still leaves a huge amount of dates to choose from, even if the absolute bottom price ones are out of the question.

Does everyone have to go on a Saturday when it is busier rather than the Sunday? Does everyone have to go on the last week of the summer holiday rather than the first? Does everyone have to go on the first bank holiday day of the weekend rather than the last? Did everyone have to go on opening weekend rather the the weekend after?

Indeed, does anyone have to go at all? It's not some charitable organisation. Of course this is for the benefit of the business. I would imagine that trying to generate a higher volume of guests on quieter days to cover costs is also. If you don't pay the higher price, like many didn't with the outrageous situation when the hotel debacle reached it's peak early last season, then they won't have your cash. They then changed strategy after that.

It's a very interesting subject matter, but the very essence of true dynamic pricing is exactly what it says on the tin. It's classic centuries old supply and demand with a fancy name. Every private business you trade with today will be trying to generate value from you. I can think of far less transparent and more controversial ways Merlin have extracted value from guests over the last 9 years. The question is, is this a much needed replacement of current tactics, or supplementary to it?

 

[Kraken27]

Well you could argue that there is sort of dynamic pricing in place for even MAP holders, as we need a pre-book. No more deciding on the Friday evening that Saturday or Sunday look good weather-wise so just turn up & get in (assuming they are enforcing pre-book, like they are not RAP... but that is for another thread!)