In today’s meeting at Worlds of Play-Seattle, Ms. Alex Harrington, business strategy consultant from Ernst & Young LLP, unveiled "Operation Upmarket" a business strategy proposal aimed at addressing the issue of profitability for Worlds of Play. This plan proposed that Worlds of Play offer its customers the option of a "preferred guest" card. Cardholders would pay more, but they would get first crack at the rides and would get seated immediately at any of the park’s restaurants. According to Alex, the plan would help Worlds of Play finances because it would target the "mass effluents"--wealthy but time-pressed people who might visit the park more often and spend more time while there, were it not for long lines at the rides. …show more content…
We also have had some success in the past in doing so. Roughly 20% of Worlds of Play souvenir shops have been upgraded to gift boutiques with more appealing displays and higher-priced merchandise, and some snack concessions have been converted to seat dining. The most upscale of the restaurants are already earning almost double the profit per square foot of the other food-service facilities.
The idea suggested by Alex hence seems favorable but there are two sides of the coin. Ms. Grace Jones had her fair share of concerns regarding Alex’s proposal. She believes that offering differentiated service levels doesn’t coincide with our policy. The founder of Worlds of Play created a place where families could come together for a day to forget about their cares.
Whereas, Mr. Adam Goodwin had a different set of concerns, as he believed it to a short sighted strategy, as a lot of money can be made by those cards in the first couple of seasons, but it will affect the overall customer experience. As the customers who can’t afford the preferred guest cards won’t enjoy the card holding customers getting ahead in lines of them, and eventually the preferred card holder customers will also start feeling uncomfortable and unwelcomed by the other customers. Hence, for both the segments the overall experience won’t be as satisfying as it should be and we might eventually lose