Karls Erlebnis-Dörfer: The digital evolution of a strawberry empire
Starting point
When the tourism industry was confronted with plummeting visitor numbers at the start of the pandemic, the Karl's team turned to Etribes to make their offerings digitally accessible and available for purchase. The result was rapidly increasing sales through a complete redesign of the online shop including the integration of innovative live shopping functions. Today, e-commerce accounts for around 10% of their annual turnover of more than 150 million euros.
Result
How a cozy vegetable farm became a must-visit for families with a strong digital presence
Karl's success story begins in a picturesque village in Mecklenburg, not far from today's strawberry headquarters in Rövershagen. In 1921, Karl Dahl, grandfather of the current owner, founded a humble vegetable farm and supplied Rostock's weekly markets with fresh fruit and vegetables twice a week. Over the years, something truly extraordinary developed from these beginnings.
What started as simple pick-your-own strawberry fields is today a strawberry empire with numerous amusement parks and sales of around 150 million euros. From a souvenir shop with fresh strawberry jam to a rollercoaster ride in fast strawberry cars, it has it all. This wonderful world is like a dream come true, a kind of Disneyland just for strawberries.
But in view of increasing customer demands and an increasingly international range of visitors combined with sales pressure during the pandemic, even the most successful tourism companies felt compelled to react creatively to changing market conditions. One of Karl's approaches was to invest more in e-commerce and digital customer experiences. All with the aim of making the unique experience of Karls Erlebnishöfe and their products digitally accessible to visitors, even when they are not physically on site. This is exactly where Etribes was brought in to take existing digital initiatives to a new level.
Be inspired by Karl's success story and start your own path to digital success
Takeaways
More reach. Without a digital presence, leisure parks depend on visitors from nearby. A digital offering extends their reach and access to customers.
More flexibility. Parks that had digital customer access early could react faster during the pandemic and open up new revenue streams.
Stronger loyalty. Personalized communication and online communities keep guests connected to the park even when they are not there.
- ~10 %
- e-commerce share of annual revenue of over €150m
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