Case Study: eGalaxy Upsell and Northwest Trek Wildlife Park

THE CUSTOMER

Northwest Trek Wildlife Park is dedicated to conservation, education and recreation
by displaying, interpreting and researching native Northwest wildlife and natural
habitats. Trek consists of a traditional main exhibit area where you can walk the paths
and meet bears, cats, canines, forest and wetland animals. But there is also a 435-acre
Free-Roaming Area of forest, meadows, hills and a lake where you’ll find Roosevelt
elk, bison, moose, caribou, bighorn sheep, mountain goats, swans and deer

THE CHALLENGE

In early 2019, the team at Northwest Trek had been tasked with increasing operating
revenue while staying true to their mission and core values. They already had a
premier tour experience called the Keeper Tour, in which an animal keeper would
take guests off the tram roads of the Free-Roaming Area in the keeper feed truck
to feed the animals. Though popular, they only ran the tour 8 – 10 times a year, and
because of the early morning departure time, it was difficult to draw guests from
Seattle and Tacoma, which are an hour plus away.

“We knew we already had a popular product,” says Donna Powell, Business and
Administrative Services Manager at Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium and Northwest
Trek, which are owned and operated by Metro Parks Tacoma. “So we decided
to develop a new daily tour, operate it later in the day, and tour guests in nine
passenger, retrofitted and branded Jeeps. But we also needed a way to increase the presence of ticket sales online.”

THEIR SOLUTION

Northwest Trek opted to move forward with eGalaxy Upsell for their eGalaxy
Web Store. When guests are moving through the process of purchasing a general
admission ticket online, Trek is now able to provide an upsell prompt advertising
their new Keeper Adventure Tour and encourage guests to purchase this more
expensive ticket instead, or add it to their general admission. Even if guests pass
on the upsell opportunity, they now know about the Keeper Adventure Tour and
are more likely to be receptive to the upsell when on site.

THEIR BUSINESS BENEFITS

“With the new Keeper Adventure Tour, we sold 1745 tickets in 2019 for $140,915 in
additional revenue,” says Donna Powell. “266 of those guests, or about 1 out of 5, were
sold via eGalaxy Upsell online.” Those guests represented almost $24,000 in revenue.

“Northwest Trek created a new experience and used Upsell to help drive sales,” says
Derek Chapin, former Visitor Services Manager at Trek and current Business Solutions
Manager with Gateway. “I’ve seen other attractions use Upsell to promote photo
packages or a theater experience too. This is a great opportunity with a minimal
investment to really increase your revenue.”