At Cleverciti, we see a bright future. That outlook is directly in line with the impact we realize through reducing the search for parking, urban traffic and congestion to help eliminate the effects of climate change. As a company, we are always looking to the future to envision how we can create a positive change. We predict some smart trends for our environment, cities and the smart parking market in the next 12 months but we are excited to be part of a collaborative effort to address them.

Smart cities will rise

In 2019, there was a lot of buzz around the concept of “smart” or connected cities. And it wasn’t all talk. When we attended the Smart City Expo World Congress in November, we saw that there was an incredible amount of activity and interest from cities that want to incorporate intelligent technologies to build smarter environments. But there is a digital transformation that has to happen first. Smart city project ideas are broad, budgeting is complex, and sales cycles are long, but we predict that 2020 will be the year that more smart city projects will be deployed across the globe.

When a city aims to adopt smart trends, it’s often to improve the overall experience for visitors, residents and businesses alike. That’s precisely where smart parking fits in. Drivers that have a great experience finding parking are more likely to travel into the city or different neighborhoods to explore stores or restaurants. The residents that are walking the street can also breathe easier when cars aren’t circling the block looking for an open spot, producing needless emissions.

Parking will continue to be an uphill battle

We expect parking issues will get worse before smart parking trends get better. Although some areas are already implementing smart parking measures, most cities are experiencing significant population growth, which affects traffic, parking and air quality. Smart parking solutions help to alleviate these problems, but still won’t be deployed to the scale they should in 2020. As populations increase, causing more congestion and fewer available spots on average, the need for smart parking will become more apparent and residents will demand them — but it will take a few years for this convenience to catch on.

The difficulties associated with parking and urban congestion from increasing populations will get better in the future as more areas implement intelligent technology solutions. Additionally, these technologies can easily scale from that point on to further grow and change to fit the expanding needs of a business, city or other parking administration. While it may not be an immediate change, we are convinced there will be a very real, positive impact from smart parking at massive scale in nearly every city in the future.

The opportunity of ride-hailing services

The complexity of parking has propelled the popularity of ride-hailing services like Uber or Lyft. The use of these services is growing — a trend that will likely continue into 2020. However, while ride-hailing seems convenient for the user, it does not help the broader issues of traffic and urban congestion, excess emissions or parking availability. A driver still has to drive from their location to pick up the rider then take them to their destination — on average about 40% more distance driven. However, this transition to more ride-hailing presents opportunities for cities to repurpose existing parking assets to create mobility hubs and queuing areas. If ride-hailing services have real-time availability data of a nearby queuing area, they can improve their efficiency and reduce congestion and emissions.

Rich parking information also facilitates the use of public transportation. When smart parking is implemented at train stops, bus stations or parks and rides, users can know ahead of time which lots have space and which modes of transportation they can use. We have seen that when a driver knows in advance that they will be able to park at a station to use the train or bus, they are more likely to do so, consolidating the number of vehicles that traverse city streets.

Entering mainstream conversations

While consumers innately understand the parking challenges they face every day, awareness of smart parking solutions has been low in the general population. However, as consumers start to experience these smart trends firsthand in 2020, we expect consumers to start demanding them from their cities, shopping malls, office campuses, and other places they go each day.

No matter how these individual trends will shape next year and the years to come, Cleverciti is proud to be leading the way in helping cities to become smart by addressing parking issues, reducing vehicle congestion and cutting down on unnecessary emissions. We certainly see a bright future ahead.

Here we are: the biggest yearly spending event in retail is here off, with holiday shopping efforts in full force. But while consumers battle with their checkbooks, retailers are batting for consumers. You’ve likely noticed that the news is scattered with stories about big box stores closing while online retail giants, such as Amazon, continue to grow. In fact, consumers spent a whopping $126 billion online in the 2018 holiday shopping season.

An NPR poll brings insight to the online versus brick-and-mortar war that has ensued, featuring the top motivating factor to shopping online: speed (quickly followed by convenience). When you think about physically going to a store to shop, these factors are often diminished by one major element: parking. But what if retailers could leverage technology to both decrease the time shoppers spend searching for a space and provide a better customer experience? Could this help push customers to return to in-store shopping?

Our customers think so, based on the following benefits:

Speed

Research shows that finding a parking spot at a shopping center can take up to 12 minutes. Cleverciti’s smart parking technology can change that. Through a combination of real-time detection of available parking spaces and digital signage guiding drivers to open spots, the time required to park can be reduced by 30% or more. In a shopping mall with 1,000 parking spaces, this improvement can result in annual revenue gains of more than $4 million.

A positive impression

As the first and last memory of a shopping experience, streamlined parking is key to creating a satisfied customer. Take it from us: In July, Cleverciti finished installing its smart parking technology at Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield’s Ruhr Park, Germany’s largest open-air shopping center with more than 2,600 parking spots. Known for their devotion to innovation and service, Ruhr Park’s executive team wanted to deliver extraordinary service, convenience, and a hassle-free parking experience for its clients.

Creating rewards

In addition to streamlining parking, Cleverciti’s newest technology, the Cleverciti Card, can be used to reserve parking spots in specified areas. Imagine VIP customers being able to reserve a space in advance, which not only maximizes their time spent shopping, but also provides additional data to the retailer regarding the most loyal and top-spending customers, allowing salespeople to know in advance of the arrival of their best customers. For years, brands have created loyalty programs with rewards, bonuses and discounts, and now parking can become part of these efforts.

Utilizing data

Cleverciti’s solution is more than just sensors. Using edge-computing, artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things (IoT), the technology creates a unified and intelligent platform that provides customer and behavior data to retailers — something retailers are always craving. From the location of each parked car, to parking violations, to how long each shopper spends in the store, this information can help retailers learn about customer behavior, measure effects of marketing campaigns and plan more effective traffic patterns.

Reduced footprint

Consumers are starting to use purchasing power to get their messages and opinions across to businesses and brands, and we’re seeing this prominently when it comes to reducing emissions and global warming. A report by Nielsen found that 66% of consumers are willing to pay more for sustainable goods, so it is likely that they will also pick a shopping center that has actively chosen to reduce its carbon footprint.

Smart parking technology directly relates to this effort: when shoppers spend less time searching for an open space, they’re releasing fewer emissions into the air and therefore cutting down on pollution. Cleverciti’s mission to creating a sustainable environment can be key to showing consumers that retailers care about more than just the bottomline.

Brick-and-mortar retailers are at a tipping point when it comes to winning back the hearts of consumers, but this effort is all about providing a better experience for the consumer than their digital counterparts. Cleverciti’s smart parking technology can create a more efficient, rewarding and sustainable experience for shoppers while also providing mission-critical information to retailers to continually improve the guest experience.

To learn more about how Cleverciti’s technology can help your business, connect with our teams here.

Smart parking and IoT

The Internet of Things (IoT) has begun to permeate nearly every aspect of our daily lives; from entertainment to security to self-driving cars, it’s hard to find one industry that hasn’t taken advantage of the IoT’s ability to seamlessly connect smart devices and facilitate communication.

The IoT provides a host of benefits to a number of markets, with urban areas at the top of the list of those seeing a significant impact. The Smart City is empowered by the IoT, relying on connected devices to improve infrastructure and quality of life. In fact, according to recent research from IoT Analytics on 1,600 real IoT use cases, the largest amount of projects were part of Smart City initiatives.

Of the many fashions in which municipalities can benefit from the IoT, its role in traffic management is one of the most valuable. Cities frequently face a variety of challenges when it comes to traffic and parking, such as exceeded emissions limits, long search times for a parking space, valuable parking space not being monetized and more.

Solutions that utilize the IoT can effectively mitigate these issues. Real-time detection of available on-street parking spaces decreases traffic and pollution and reduces the required time and distance to park, improving mobility. Additionally, these solutions incentivize drivers to pay for parking, allowing cities to capture revenue from one of their most important assets and make the most out of their parking spaces.

The IoT also enables cities to automate processes that may be time consuming or costly. These solutions can continuously monitor traffic patterns or parking restrictions, such as delivery zones or handicap spaces, and implement the proper control, such as verification or a violation.

The overall enhanced traffic management achieved through IoT devices contributes to a comprehensive Smart City initiative that can vastly augment decision-making and operations. And the IoT’s effect doesn’t stop there: cities are seeing improvements to healthcare, commerce, government services and more. Smart grids can more efficiently transmit electricity, while wireless irrigation networks can promote water conservation.

The opportunities the IoT provides to cities are truly revolutionary and stand to revamp and boost an endless number of systems. And the examples above are just the beginning; as more data is collected and further use cases are identified, the possibilities will only expand.