Things have really changed over the past few months. Covid 19 and the accompanying protocols have affected businesses like we never could have imagined. Closures, reduced occupancy, staffing challenges, new health and safety requirements, coin shortages, customer fears, protests and more have all impacted how retailers can and should operate. Everyday more and more consumers are turning the internet to engage with retailers and restaurants, and making their purchases online. It doesn’t look like this will change in the near future and will likely increase as consumers become more comfortable with the new normal.
So, what can you do to be at the forefront of this shift? How can you drive business through your doors and revenue into your registers? The answer is a True 3D Tour from Foster Virtual Properties. Our 3d tours transport the customer into your space, unlike any technology ever has before. They are able to walk through the space at their own pace, immersed in a carefully curated experience. As the guest proceeds through the tour, we are able to engage them in a variety of ways. As your customer steps through the front door of your virtual tour, we can present them a variety of options via Tags. Tags show up in the tour in strategic locations to not only engage the guest, but encourage them to take action. We want to give your guest the ability to interact with the space like they just walked in to your brick and mortar location. Below is not an all inclusive list of what we can do, but should paint a picture of the overall capabilities of the technology.
Make Reservations/Schedule Appointments – Reservations and appointments are more important now than ever. Whether you are trying to manage occupancy or simply make the most of your time, allowing customers to make a reservation within your virtual tour will help drive them to your door. We will create a Tag at your host stand or register that will integrate seamlessly with you current reservation or appointment system.
Sell Gift Cards and Merchandise – Whether you are a restaurant that sells gift cards, t-shirts & glassware or a retail business that depends on product sales as the foundation of your business, we can create tags throughout your tour that allow you customer to purchase these items directly from you. Foster Virtual Property customers have found that people are more inclined to buy from within the virtual tour than simply from a website. We can use your real life retail display as the backdrop to create an immersive sales experience.
Order Carry-Out – For most restaurants, carry-out has become a critical revenue stream to survive during these complex times. We integrate the tour with your current carry out platform, and guests can order directly through your tour. If you don’t currently have a platform we can design one for you.
Order Delivery – Are you partnered with Grubhub, Doordash, Postmates or Ubereats? Your tour can provide a simple link to these third party vendors to increase your overall sales.
View Food/Drink Menu’s – A virtual tour is a great way to familiarize people with your menu. Paper menus are a thing of the past. With the shift to online menus, we create a way to easily get your menu in their hands.
Show Off Product – Your customer will be able to simply hover over a product in the tour, and a larger picture will pop up with a product description. This is a great way to show off beautiful food and drink pictures or demonstrate products that need more explanation.
Collect Staff Donations – This is a new concept that a lot of businesses have begun implementing. Customers understand that times are tough for staff, and this is a great way for people to make a little donation to help the staff get by.
How to Videos – Do you want to demonstrate how to make a cocktail or teach a customer how a product works? Adding video demonstrations to your tour is an extremely effective way to engage guests and provide valuable information. Foster Virtual Properties can update these videos monthly to keep your content fresh and keep guests coming back to your tour.
Demonstrate Safety Standards/Policies – Everyone seems to have slightly different policies and procedures to maintain their health and safety standards. This can be very stressful for guests. Do we wear masks the whole time? Are there sanitizing stations? What is your business doing to keep customers safe? We can outline your procedures inside the tour to increase your customers comfort level therefore improving the likelihood of the guest visiting in person.
Introduce Staff – Another effective step in building trust with the guest is introducing your staff. When a customer sees that your staff truly cares about their health and safety they will be more likely too visit your business. We have found staff members enjoy being featured in tours as well!
Virtual Tour – Last but certainly not least….the True 3D Tour allows your guest to check out your brick and mortar location. There is no longer the need to provide an onsite tour. This keeps employees and customers safe. The guest can see how clean/sanitary the space is, how people and product are spaced, what safety protocols you have implemented (signage, partitions, etc) and much more. The True 3D Tour captures exactly what is there, and provides the most realistic depiction of your business, to provide the guest with all the information they need to feel comfortable visiting your business.
Check out this tour of Agave & Rye (Louisville) to experience some of the features listed above.
If you are interested in learning more about this process, send us a message or give us a call. We understand that times are tough and budgets are tight. Foster Virtual Properties can work within your budget to create an immersive True 3D Tour that will drive customers to your door and increase your revenue.
– Mic Foster
