Kids may not be your target demographic – but their parents might be. By not catering to their kids, you could be failing to cater to them and consequently could be excluding a large part of your consumer base. Families tend to possess a lot of spending power, which makes them valuable customers. On top of this, many young parents are heavily involved in social media and could be great advocates for your business.
That said, catering to kids could backfire if your other customers want an adult-only experience. By welcoming in kids, you could push out your customers. So, should you be catering to kids?
Catering to Kids in Hospitality
Families still like to travel and dine out. If you own a hotel or restaurant, consider whether you should be catering to these families.
Obviously, in a fine dining restaurant, customers aren’t going to want kids running around. However, as some upscale restaurants have been doing in Manhattan, there’s still always the option of having family areas. Similarly, a hotel might try to reserve a cluster of family rooms on a specific floor or in a specific part of the hotel.
You don’t have to build a play area to appeal to kids (although it’s certainly one way to do it). Some restaurants simply offer colour-in menus or toys that can be shared, while some hotels put board games in rooms and make sure that there are kids TV channels. Having kids’ food menus and baby changing facilities can also help your business to be more inclusive.
Catering to Kids in Retail
Many parents want to go shopping with their kids, but don’t always feel they have the option. In physical stores, you can usually cater to kids in small ways. For instance, some banks place bead mazes and books in waiting areas, while some clothes stores will sell sweets and toys around the counter where people queue so that parents are able to treat their kids too.
Offering online shopping is of course another simple way of accommodating to parents. This could be through your site or a social media page.
Catering to Kids in Other Industries
There are many other industries where it may benefit to accommodate kids. Obviously, there’s no need to accommodate kids in nightclubs – or in many business-to-business industries where it would be unprofessional for a client to turn up with a kid. However, in dental surgeries and libraries and even estate agents, you may find that whole families turn up, and it could therefore be worth having some form of entertainment available even if it is a simple bead maze.
There are companies that specialise in specific commercial toys ranging from soft play areas for cafes to playground equipment for churches. Such companies may be able to help you find equipment that’s just right for your premises.
Meanwhile, there are other companies that offer more practical equipment such as baby changing tables and ramps for prams. These are other small ways in which your business can provide for the needs of kids.
