Motorway areas with children: new places to go with all the family?

Here we are. It’s summer! And like every year, thousands of tourists stop by motorway areas with children daily. Even if, at first, there was only petrol available at these stations. The service areas on motorways are being transformed into real places to stay. Especially because of the waiting time for electric recharging (about 30 minutes). There are now shops, restaurants and services for all the family.

Set up interactive children’s areas in motorway service stations to meet families’ expectations

With approximately 4 billion families worldwide representing half of the population, the family target is definitely a strategic target for service station operators.

According to the Novachild cluster study, “1 in 3 parents have already left a sales outlet because of their child. That’s millions abandoned visits per year”.¹ Children are both specifiers and disruptors. Therefore, they become a major focus for these motorway service areas and their businesses.

Motorway areas with children : From travel stop to family destination

In order to be perceived as more than just a stop but as a real destination, service station operators must renew their services and offer more services and experiences to their customers.

“Four million people pass through our toilets every year, but only half of them buy something,” regrets Géraud Visinoni, the person in charge of the Areas site in Assevillers.²

Going to motorway areas with children without dedicated structures or areas with appropriate interactive content is complicated. Families get back on the road faster and shorten their visit. And this naturally reduces the shopping budget of the on-site stores.

Improve waiting time management for children during electric power recharging

Habits are changing and more and more families are equipping with hybrid or electric vehicles. And petrol companies are adapting to market trends. “They are investing in setting up electric charging station networks. For example, Total already has 18,000 charging points in France and more than 100,000 in Europe.”³

Just as shopping habits are changing, motorway stations are evolving from transactional to relational marketing.

For example, Total Energies, Argedis, Shell, Thevenin Ducrot, Picoty Avia, Autogrill, Areas, Sodiplec, Gridserve… All these companies have equipped their motorway service areas with Kylii Kids interactive areas to manage children’s waiting and excitement.

When the break is required and takes time, their interactive children’s areas have a double role to play:

Turning a mandatory moment ( gas up or toilet stop) into a recreational moment ( playing and experiencing with the family).
Turn a casual visitor into a loyal customer. Managing children’s waiting time (30 minutes on average per reload) allows parents to increase consumption and the average shopping basket.

Business case: With Kylii Kids, children play while the car is charging at Gridserve

While the parents enjoy their coffee and charge their car… Gridserve and Kylii Kids have everything under control! In this new generation electrical station, powered entirely by solar panels, children play and learn with interactive games about ecology and nature.