Local Retailers Miss Out on $28.12bn during Christmas Shopping Spending Spree

Outdated Parking Systems across local Main Streets are driving shoppers away from local stores

SYDNEY, Australia – 18 December 2014 - As Christmas shopping revs up, a survey by CellOpark has revealed local retailers are missing out on as much as $28.12bn to major Shopping Centres and online retailers due to parking problems which plague local municipalities.

With Aussies expected to spend as much as $43bn[1] on Christmas Shopping this year, excessive fines and inflated parking prices have been identified as the key reasons that 65.4% of Australian’s admit they are choosing not to shop local.

“With over a million small to medium business in Australia this is a worrying trend that councils need to reverse,” says Michael Doherty, General Manager at CellOPark.  “Parking is a simple issue that can be modernised in a way to attract consumers back to the high street”

“Local Councils are holding local shops back, and taking money out of the pockets of those people which support the community the most. There is a fairly simple solution to this problem and it’s clear that Australian’s are looking for a better option” Doherty continued.

The survey found that over 80% of Aussies wanted to see a revitalisation of Australia’s parking systems -a statistic that should be poignant within council discussions over the next 6 months as local councils look to save money in the face of declining federal and state funding.

“The tired old parking systems which are not only costing local businesses and motorist’s money, are also hurting the councils themselves, they are spending thousands of dollars a year on maintenance and upkeep of these legacy systems” said Doherty.

Aussie motorists agree, with an overwhelming 75% believing smartphone technology would offer a more efficient, user-friendly and fairer system for all. Doherty believes there is real savings to be made for all parties in moving to smartphone technology.

Motorists are also disadvantaged through the old systems, overfeeding parking machines to a tune of $15m per year, the survey has found. Australians are paying a type of ‘parking insurance’ to protect themselves from receiving fines in what has been termed ‘parking fine paranoia’.

“We have modern, more efficient and cheaper way of dealing with growing parking demand. Our system removes the use of on street ticket machines and their associated upkeep which allows councils to better allocate their budgets”, concluded Doherty.

CellOPark is currently available for use in many locations around Australia. CellOPark supports tens of thousands of its members, who are already enjoying the benefits of Pay-by-App, Pay-by-Phone and ePermit parking technology.

ENDS

About CellOPark Australia

Established in Sydney in 2008, and based on a technology heritage dating back over 10 years, CellOPark is Australia’s leading provider of Pay-by-App, Pay-By-Phone and ePermit technology to the parking industry. Every day thousands of CellOPark members enjoy the convenience of using their mobile phone to pay for a car space rather than feeding coins or credit cards into a traditional parking meter. ‘Providing Options’ to motorists and parking providers, including smartphone and non-smartphone payment methods linked to debit cards, credit cards, unique CellOPark pre-paid cards, or PayPal top-ups, CellOPark tailors integrated Smarter Parking solutions using multiple technologies for municipalities, universities and private parking providers.

[1] National Retail Association Christmas Spending Predictions  http://www.nra.net.au/article/article/view/article/85982

For more information please visit:

www.CellOPark.com.au

www.smarterparking.com.au

www.facebook.com/CellOParkAU