The fall season brings more to the southern U.S. than cooler temperatures, it brings a new wave of demand for party rental businesses. From fine-tuning your pricing and deliveries to targeting new events like tailgates and carnivals, read further on how to prepare your business for success this fall.
Fall is Prime Time for Southern Event Rentals
When September arrives in the Southern U.S., a few noticeable changes arrive with it: the weather is cooler, school is back in session, and the weekends are dominated by football-centric events. For party rental businesses, this transition represents the prime time to make a slight pivot that will maximize your bookings. To make the most of the Fall season, you need to optimize pricing, inventory management, routing, and marketing so you can handle the rush and capture as much revenue as possible before the winter slowdown.
Prep Your Rental Business for the Fall Rush
Getting your business ready for the fall rush isn’t just about having enough inventory — it’s about pulling the levers that boost profits. From choosing the best pricing to streamlining deliveries and meeting demand, evaluate where your business is at and apply these strategies to sustain your summer momentum into fall season profitability.
Match Pricing to Demand
Demand for party rental items peaks in the fall, so you don’t want to undersell your inventory. Adjust your rental rates for busy weekends and consider premium pricing for high-demand items. Fine-tuning pricing can add up to big gains over the next three months.
Track Your Inventory
The last thing you want is to promise a client items that you already rented to someone else, especially with larger, “once in a lifetime” events like weddings. A double booking mistake can end up costing you revenue for years to come so you need to avoid one at all cost. A real-time inventory tracking system will let you know exactly what’s available and when.
Also, the Fall season will bring new opportunities for revenue. This is the time when you should be exploring additional items to add to your inventory like tents, lights, concessions, cooling systems, and bug control solutions. These items will elevate the experience for your customers and will increase your average order value by turning a regular rental into a full-service package.
Tighten Up Delivery Logistics
When a full schedule of events is the norm in the fall, streamlining your deliveries can have a huge impact on your business. Longer than necessary drive times and slow setups will reduce the number of events you handle. With consecutive bookings filling most weekends, the more efficient your routing and the quicker you can get equipment up and running, the more events you can take on and the more profitable each delivery becomes.
Drive Bookings
Potential customers are already searching for rental items for their fall parties. If your website, social media, and paid ads aren’t showing up for searches like “tailgate tent rental,” “cotton candy machine rental,” or “chair rental outdoor wedding,” then you’re going to lose out on bookings that went to your competitors.
Marketing becomes even more important after you’ve made the decision to invest in new inventory items. You won’t be able to rent out your new cooling systems and bug-control tents if nobody knows that you are now offering them. Your website and email campaigns will play a key role in displaying the content that highlights the value of these new items to the new audience you will be targeting.
A strong marketing strategy will allow you to create additional demand and ensure that your new inventory investment pays off.
Fall Event Opportunities to Target
In the Southern U.S., fall rental demand surges due to high-yield events including weddings, football tailgates, carnivals, and festivals. Prioritize targeting these bookings to capture big orders and steady weekend volume.
Fall Weddings
September and October have become the two most popular months for weddings with cooler weather, beautiful scenery, and outdoor themes credited for this. Wedding planners will look for tents, chairs, and decorative lighting in addition to add-ons like cooling systems. Offering these items as a package gives your rental business a leg up to capture fall wedding revenue.
Football Patios & Tailgates
From September through November there will be either college or professional football every Monday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. So bookings from football patios and tailgates represent a huge opportunity that a party rental business owner can capitalize on.
You won’t be limited to just stadium parking lots and the occasional home either. Many bars and restaurants will be looking to set up watch party patios to bring in more people on gameday which means this can be a steady revenue stream for the entire season.
To take full advantage, think outside of the box of tents and chairs. Items like tables, coolers, TVs, food concessions (popcorn, hot dogs, pizza), misting fans, and outdoor games will elevate gameday experience. These events are tailor-made for upselling and bundling to raise your average order value.
School Carnivals & Fundraisers
If there’s one fall rental opportunity that’s already in a party rental business owner’s wheelhouse it’s school carnivals and fundraisers. These events match perfectly with your core customer base of parents, schools, and community groups that regularly rent inflatables, games, and concessions. Unlike weddings or football tailgates, which might involved moving out of your rental comfort zone, school events are almost custom-built for your inventory.
In-demand items for carnivals include bounce houses, dunk tanks, obstacle courses,
carnival games, cotton candy and popcorn machines, tents, tables, and seating. Another bonus is that school events are larger events than weddings or private parties, so they require more of these items. This is favorable for an owner who only wants to scale their inventory as instead of investing in unfamiliar items. Also, building a relationship with PTAs and school administrators can lead to repeat business every year
Many towns, breweries, and community groups host festivals in the fall that draw big crowds. These events are a goldmine for party rental businesses because they require not just chairs and tables, but large tents, concessions, stages, sound systems, and lighting
Fall festivals are also family-friendly which means that you have the opportunity to rent inflatables and obstacle courses alongside the adult-focused items. Big community gatherings also present the chance to establish relationships with long term customers.
Make This Fall Your Most Profitable Yet
If you’re a party rental business owner in the southern U.S., the fall season is your best chance to maximize bookings and revenue.
Does your business have the right tools to cash in on the rush?
With Event Rental Systems software you can:
- Use data insights to know you’re charging the best price for high-demand weekends
- Use real-time inventory tracking to avoid double bookings
- Quickly add new items to your online inventory and create new pages for fall-themed bundles
- Plan efficient delivery routes
- Access performance reports instantly to know what’s driving revenue
- Run smarter marketing campaigns to convert rising demand into more bookings
The fall party rental season is a window for opportunity that only comes once a year
With ERS software you’ll have everything you need to maximize bookings, increase revenue, and make the most of it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why Should I Prioritize Weddings, Carnivals, and Tailgates Over Traditional Events Like Birthdays?
Large events like weddings, carnivals, and football tailgates typically require larger rental packages, more add-on items, and in the case of tailgates, repeat throughout the season. These high-average booking value events are prime opportunities to maximize revenue and margins. Using rental management software makes it easier to track which events bring the biggest returns so you can prioritize booking the most profitable opportunities.
How Can I Tailor My Online Marketing to Capture More Fall Bookings?
The audience you want to reach will be searching for items like “football tailgate tent rental” and “outdoor wedding chairs.” Creating web, social media pages, and paid ads optimized for these searches will boost your visibility with these high-intent customers.
What Is the Best Way to Manage Delivery Schedules When Demand Spikes?
When your fall weekends are packed with deliveries relying on google maps or waze to handle your routing is a big mistake that can eat into your profit margin. Using rental software with routing tools will minimize drive time, optimize delivery cost, and allow you to complete more deliveries per day.
