A hard-to-top 97 percent of consumers in China want to use futuristic technology when they go shopping in theme parks—this according to research by Omnico, a marketing and research firm hedquartered in Basingstoke, about 50 miles southwest of London.
Other findings from the second Omnico Theme Park Barometer, surveying the expectations of 2,000 consumers from China, Malaysia and Japan who have visited a park within the last two years, include the following:
—More than half (54 percent) of Chinese travelers want to use virtual reality headsets so they can see how they might look wearing clothing or other accessories.
—Thirty-six percent want to use augmented reality software to bring products to life on their smartphones.
—Just 16 percent of Japanese visitors and 31 percent of Malaysians are interested in using Virtual Reality to see what they look like in clothing or merchandise.
—Only 13 percent of Japanese and 16 percent of Malaysians said they wanted to want to use augmented reality software to bring products to life on their smartphones.
—The futuristic retail technology most appealing to Japanese visitors was self-scan kiosks (33 percent), while
—Digital signage was most popular with Malaysians (38 percent).
—When asked what would make visits more convenient, 89 percent of Chinese, 75 percent of Japanese and 61 percent of Malaysian visitors said a personalized smartphone app itinerary was the answer,
—Meanwhile, 71 percent of Chinese, 62 percent of Japanese and 55 percent of Malaysians said that being able to pre-pay for food would make visits more convenient.
—Queuing for rides emerged as the biggest annoyance among all three nationalities (an average 54 percent).
—When they were asked how they want to receive real-time updates and make bookings for rides (or restaurants), 70 percent of Japanese respondents, 66 percent of Chinese and 58 percent of Malaysians said they want to use a park app on their own phone or tablet, reflecting a desire to use technology to avoid queues.
