CASE ANALYSIS:

CINCINNATI ZOO
INTRODUCTION
 Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden is one of the
world’s top-rated zoological institutions, and the
second oldest zoo in the United States.
It is also one of the nation’s most popular

attractions, a Top 10 Zagat-rated Zoo, and a Parents

Magazine Top Zoo for Children. The zoo’s 71 acre site is
home to more than 500 animal and 3,000 plant species.
About 1.2 million people visit this zoo each year.
PROBLEM DEFINED
 In challenging economic conditions, the Zoo
wanted to reduce its reliance on subsidies even
further by increasing visitor attendance and
revenues from secondary sources such as
membership, food and retail outlets. This would
secure the Zoo’s future and enable it to continue its
pioneering work in conservation, preservation and
research.
To solve the problems the
following must be answered:
1. What are the problems with the existing system of the Cincinnati zoo?
2. Whatare the four TPS presently used by Cincinnati Ohio? Identify all
the data that are captured by each TPS? What decision can be made
from those data?
3. Whatsolutions can be provided for the following stakeholders such as
zoo visitors, zoo management, and zoo staff members so that the
business objective of Cincinnati zoo is achieved?
4. What are the other marketing strategies, the process and the IT to be
used to help the Park achieve its over-all objective which is to increase
its revenue?
Problems existing in Cincinnati
Zoo
Upon Reading the Case about Cincinnati Zoo, following
problems were being pointed:
 Finding ways to both reduce its cost and increase
revenues from sources such as admissions, memberships,
food purchases, and merchandise purchases.
 From the point-on-sale system, only the management can
assess it without considering that the zoo unable its
employees to know information they needed to make
better operational decisions.
 The objective they are trying to achieve also is not usually
for a non-profit organization, it’s somehow allied to mid-
market companies.
Staffing

Efficiency

Security-shrink

Accuracy

Cost and Fees

TPS USED IN THE ZOO
TPS DATA CAPTURED DECISION MADE
POSSIBLE
Real-time processing Date and amount There are more
in admission and visitors who will be
membership attracted to visit the
Cincinnati Zoo if the
customer service and
experience will be
upgraded.
Batch Transaction Date and amount ROI is significant in
Processing in ROI measuring the
performance of
investment division
which focuses on
earning maximum
profit and making
appropriate decisions
regarding acquisition
and disposal of
capital assets.
POS in Food and Item/Food Knowing the
Retail Purchased, Item/Food that is
amount usually
purchased will
probably help the
business to
provide the
satisfaction of the
visitors.
Payroll in Date and amount Knowing the
Employee Salary estimate number
of employees
who work at the
Cincinnati Zoo
everyday will
help to identify
how much budget
will be allocated
to Salaries.
SOLUTIONS
ZOO VISITORS
 About 54 percent of visitors are members of
the Zoo. They have a membership card that
they scan at different places in the park –
on entry, at attractions, at retail outlets, at
restaurants, and so on. The membership
card also functions as a Loyalty card by
accruing points towards benefits – for
example, discounts on food or free rides,
which encourage additional spending and
visitation.
 “Tocapture similar information for non-
members, the Cincinnati Zoo has rolled
out the Loyalty program to non-
members as well. When they come to
the Zoo, we ask them to enroll for the
day and we capture their name,
address, email and number of kids. We
immediately give them a card that
offers them discounts during their visit –
there’s no waiting time. As a result, a
very large proportion of visitors sign
up.”
ZOO MANAGEMENT
 Cincinnati Zoo selected PostBrowning as
their technology servicer and they in
turn recommended an ArcaTech
Systems Retail Cash Solution to be at
the core their cash operations. This
solution is comprised of a cash recycler
with attached side vault called the
Arca8000D and is controlled with
ArcaTech’s retail software.
 Cash recycling technology has the
ability to handle cash transactions in
and out, additionally; a cash recycler
can handle counting, sorting,
verification, note storage, counterfeit
detection and cash exchanges.
 The day’s revenue is automatically
tracked and recorded with each
transaction providing an accurate cash
position at all times.
ZOO STAFF MEMBERS
 First and foremost too many staff
walking or having rounds around the zoo
will only cause a more crowded
situation. To avoid this there should be
schedules for them. So it will be more
convenient for them to use a system.
RECOMMENDATIONS AND
CONCLUSION
 The organization should consider more
solutions to further polish policies, as
well as the system, they have. The
proposed solutions are the following:
 Firstand for most, they must still
consider that they are non-profit
organization, so utilizing for greater
sales would not be their main objective
considering that they are still being
subsidies.
 Senior managers of the Zoo must allow
its staff in accessing to real-time
information that helps them optimize
operational management and transform
the customer experience.
 They can also do a survey on dealing
the needs of their visitors that may help
in the supplying the food retails inside
the Zoo. Survey method could also be
helpful before implementing any
marketing Strategy. This can also lead to
lower costs.
 Senior
Managers could also consider the
geographic location and demographic
information of the zoo to aid customer
segmentation and marketing to further
achieve their own objectives.
 In the visitor side, they must cooperate
with the organization’s objectives since
the organization will be more focusing
on them to gain insights from visitors’
behavior and tailoring operations to
their preference. This will lead into a
higher attendance, boost membership
and maximize sales.
 Lastly, the staff of the said would have
a great task. They must not focus on
making round just to assess the number
of customer they have. They must not
limit on that kind of job. They can
consider the customer satisfaction like
the cleanliness of the place.