5 Ways Going Cashless Improves Your Special Events

Maximize efficiency and grow your revenue with these easy to implement tips.

Group and birthday party business are critical elements of virtually any successful amusement and entertainment venue. They provide a facility not only with revenue, but also serve as an excellent source of exposure to new patrons. But some facility owners and managers still operate their special event business as a separate entity from the rest of their operation, with separate systems and processes for everything from booking to admissions to payment. For example, many facilities operate in a cashless environment in the day to day but fail to realize the full revenue and operational potential your business can gain by going cashless for special events. Here are five reasons to take your special events cashless.

1. Simplified admissions.

Whether you use magstripe cards, wristbands or a dual media system, incorporating RFID or other contactless payment methods can simplify admissions. You can add session tickets or attraction entitlements to attendees’ media, load timed game room play, food and beverage packages, or even add monetary value for guests to use when enjoying your offerings. This makes it easy for your guests — and your staff — to enjoy a hassle-free event without worrying about various tickets, cards or vouchers.

2. Customizable spending limits and secure credit transactions.

It can be tricky to deliver the right level of autonomous play for event participants. Offer your event planners the flexibility to add a predetermined value or a fixed spending limit for each guest’s payment media so they can make their own purchase decisions. This could make offerings such as an hour of open bar easy and secure because guest purchases would show up in real time on a planner’s credit card, with itemized receipts available at the end of the event, so you wouldn’t have to worry about keeping track of tabs or drink tickets.

In a less-structured event, guests would have flexibility to choose their own adventure inside your park, opting to spend their time on the attractions, activities or merchandise that suit them best. This reduces purchase barriers and gives the responsible party peace of mind with secure transactions through the use of credit card tokenization and fixed spending limits.

3. Freedom to move throughout the facility.

Going cashless gives your event attendees even more freedom to structure their event as they wish. Depending on the type of event, planners may prefer that all attendees participate together in an activity, such as bowling or jumping, before moving on to less planned activities such as small footprint attractions or game rooms. Other amusement facilities, like water and amusement park groups, prefer to allow guests to enjoy an event more independently from the start. Going cashless allows you to make this seamless and customizable so that you can offer your guests the right event for them.

4. Added fun during their stay.

What happens when event guests are having a great time at your park and your hosts want to stay for 30 more minutes? Offer them additional timed play, value or attraction entitlements pushed right to their event media without gathering cards or wristbands to reload or generating new ones. This makes it easy to allow your event staff to suggest and manage last minute upsells and boost your overall event revenue, all while leaving guests with an even better impression of your business.

5. Marketing to a wider audience.

Encourage guests to register and keep their cashless media at the end of their event. Customize how they can store value, entitlements and winnings on their account. Pre-load a time sensitive bounce back offer to entice guests to return, giving you another shot at wowing them while building brand loyalty. Then, add newly registered guest data into your marketing databases for targeted offers as you see fit.

Visit the CenterEdge website to learn more about Group and Party Booking and Cashless Operations  or contact info@centeredgesoftware.com for help making special events work harder for you today.