How Zoo and Aquariums can Advance their Mission through Memberships

They also generally run community outreach campaigns advancing an important cause - be it research, conservation, art, education or all of the above.

Robust membership programs offer several major benefits to the operator:

Predictability

You can cushion your business against fluctuations in demand by ensuring a monthly fee, or a discounted annual fee to be paid upfront - as opposed to one-time purchases.

Customer Contact

The act of creating an account to set up membership allows you natural touch points with customers. Billing and renewals reaching customers via email gives you a great opportunity to let customers opt-in to your mailing list, through which you can distribute interesting content, marketing offers and updates.

New Customers

The reduced-price commitment, and increased value perception, of an affordable monthly fee makes the product accessible to a wider base of customers.

Zoos, wildlife parks and aquariums have a tremendous opportunity to drive recurring revenue through offering memberships to customers and increasing their spend with merchandise purchases and rewards programs. Committing to building this stream of revenue can pay dividends for years to come.

Here are a few tips to implement your zoos, wildlife parks and aquariums software membership program through RocketRez.

Membership Categories

Many Zoos and Aquariums have an array of different membership options each with unique pricing and terms, the RocketRez Web Engine is equipped to handle complex customizations with modular code after years of experience in the Zoos and Aquariums space.

Beyond standard membership categories with tiered pricing (Single, Family, Senior and Military discounts) we have implemented modules for Donations – which include a one time or recurring gift option. We have also implemented modules for an Adopt an Animal program, which is best paired with automated email updates through our marketing module to help your customer keep in touch with their adopted pet.

Rewards

Once you have converted a site visitor to a membership, the race is on to provide unique value to drive long term loyalty. Implementing a rewards program is a great way to ensure customers feel they are getting the most out of their membership.

The RocketRez Web Engine is carefully designed for a smooth customer buying process. We have seen increases in sales through our Coupon and Discount modules that automatically update prices to reflect the new member rate. Zoos and Aquariums often have a degree of seasonality, with our modules for Auto-Prorating you can set custom renewals that reflect your specific dates of operation.

Merchandise

A great family outing is often remembered by a souvenir. In order to add value to members it is common for Zoos and Aquariums to offer a discount to the gift shop. Equipped with all the capabilities of modern eCommerce, RocketRez allows you to scale your gift shop online to add more options for customers to buy.

With a bit of creativity and an investment of time, Zoos and Aquariums can leverage well trodden principles and pre-coded modules to build their membership programs quickly and effectively, driving additional revenue for years to come.