CenterEdge Software Blog

A big difference between Waterparks and other entertainment venues is the lack of potential for spontaneous purchases by the customers through the waterpark point of sale software.  Waterparks do not share the same luxury that zoos, museums, theme parks and family entertainment centers do when the customer is walking around with a wallet full of cash or credit cards.  The typical customer at a waterpark is in their bathing suit, leaving their wallets and/or purses behind in a locker.

You've added online party booking to your website, and now you want to know how to increase its effectiveness.  Here are 3 simple tips to increase the revenue of your online birthday reservations.

1.  Don't make them search! - Advertise that you allow online party bookings, and do not simply put a link with "Click Here For Party Booking".  Create or buy a fun image and insert a link redirecting the image to your birthday booking page.

After spending years working with the Skating industry, and watching the operation of our own skating rink; it is clear there are some very specific skating rink software needs unique to the skating industry.  I am sure from an outsider's perspective operating a skating rink is simple.  Open the doors, take customer's money, let people skate, sell them some food, and get them out the door.  However from those of us that have spent years in industry, we know it is anything but simple.

In the entertainment industry, where family entertainment centers, water parks, skating rinks, bowling alleys are all looking for means to increase their party bookings, many are turning their attention to their website.  It makes a lot of sense.  People are getting more and more accustomed to shopping online.  So what better way to book a party, than when the work day is done, kid's homework is out of the way, dinner has been served, and the kids are fast asleep.  Although the facility might not be open, the website works 24 hours a day.

In today's world, where quality of service sets us apart from our competition, and the fight for the entertainment dollar is stronger than ever; does your current party booking software or procedure ensure you are meeting and exceeding the expectations of your customer?

I hope everyone is having a great holiday season. We all know that the holidays can be a source of stress. Especially when your boss mentions that you still have never posted on the company's blog. However, for our software users there are options that can make the holidays a breeze. We have the capablity to automatically adjust your prices for the holidays. You can simply mark the day as a holiday and not only can you have prices automatically adjust to a special price but you can also automatically adjust your available hours. This means you can seamlessly move between your normal hours of operations and special holiday hours.

For any business, managing your labor costs is a key factor in maintaining and improving profitability.  However, making sure that your payroll is at an optimum level requires that you have good data.

It's that time of year again, time for the IAAPA Attractions Expo 2011!  This is a major trade show for many of the industries we support, so we'll be there and ready to meet with you.  We encourage everyone (current customers, software shoppers, or just curious park operators) to come by and see us.  We'll be located in Booth #831.

Every day I am surprised by the number of roller skating centers that are still operating their business using a cash register, rather than a skating software package.  The fact is, the roller skating industry needs high quality software just as much as other entertainment venues.

Let me start this by stating I'm an avid reader.  Ok, so I wasn't born this way.  I married an English major, need I say more?  However for years I still was not motivated to go to the bookstore and search for something I wanted to read, but rather waited on her to place a book on my side of the bed (which indicated she wanted me to read it).  Then she bought me a Kindle.  Wow!  I went from reading two books a month to two books a week.  I actually get very excited when I finish a book, because I know I'm going to shop for a new one.  The best, yet the most frustrating, part of shopping for a new book is the Kindle rating system.  Unlike my typical online purchases where the star rating system is strictly a measurement of the general feel of a product, I actually read the readers comments.  I can find a book with a rating of (344) 5 Stars and (23) 1 Stars, and I skip right over the 5 stars and read the 1 star comments.  Yes, I have actually chosen not to read a book based on some yo-yo's comments about the context not being "historically correct".  Based on the 1 star comments, I probably missed out on a great read; however at the time of purchase, that simple statement hung over me like a black cloud, and I just couldn't get passed it to click "Buy".