Fluctuating CONSUMER TRENDS

A recent Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco study noted that Americans are making fewer small-value payments with cash. While cash may not disappear completely, I think that within ten years it will represent such a small percentage of payments at amusement venues that it will be a “legacy” method. Operators will likely continue to accept cash until the costs in time and money of handling it are no longer acceptable. At this point, you can’t afford to turn away any form of payment, including cash at kiosks, but eventually, your overall operation will need to be cashless.

An arcade card system is part of the movement toward cashless payment in the amusement industry. With popular attractions like VR games now costing $5 or more to play, this is another good reason why FEC operators should go cashless. By adopting cashless technology, you can ensure that it remains easy for your customers to pay and play the way they want.

How are people spending?

Currently, the most popular method for arcade payments is a cashless card system that accepts cash or credit cards. Credit card use continues to grow, according to the operators we work with and the financial industry. Trends show that the credit card will be the dominant form of payment at amusement venues within five years. The mobile wallet has yet to become standardized, but it will continue to grow as well.

E-commerce and online payment continue to grow, driven by customer preference for reserving and paying ahead of their visit. This means less time spent in lines and more time having fun, thanks to continued overall growth in the use of kiosks and other unattended devices.

Besides aligning your business with consumer spending trends, a cashless system can jump in as part of your center’s staffing team. A tight labor market also makes a good argument for employing this technology and enables more efficient operations with fewer staff. Cashless technology is ideal for the many FECs that offer multiple attractions, from arcades to laser tag to bowling and to food and beverage. It enables customer loyalty programs and stimulates new kinds of marketing campaigns because the systems collect emails and other contact information. Plus, people who pay by credit card tend to spend more.

A cashless card system can also boost your marketing and customer retention programs. A great way to do that is to make use of the card readers to present ads to your customers right at the game. You can set the readers to show messages about your Happy Hour promotion, Monday Night Madness specials, or the live band you have each week. You can also show these messages on the large monitors on your kiosks.

You can also use the system to register customers for your loyalty program and generate reports to show how the program is doing. Loyalty programs can bring in more revenue if you tailor them to your location and customers. With a cashless system, you can mine the data you need to figure that out. Loyalty programs are not one size fits all; everybody’s got to try their own thing.

Optimizing your cashless system will provide guests with the convenience and technology they expect. Relying on everevolving technology can help with ongoing staffing challenges and provide a way for operators to market to and retain guests.•

Jason Mitchell is the Customer Success Manager at Intercard. He uses his extensive experience in operations and executive management at some of the largest companies in the amusement industry to help proprietors get the most out of their arcade operations. He is also a regular speaker at Bowl Expo, BPAA Boot Camps, IAAPA, and Amusement Expo. He welcomes your questions at jmitchell@intercardinc.com.