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.

So how do you get the customer to make that spontaneous purchase of a slice of pizza when they are on the other side of the park from their purchasing power?

Go Cashless – A growing trend across all the entertainment sub-industries is turning the facility cashless.  No industry could benefit more from going cashless than waterparks.  Unfortunately most solutions require a plastic magstriped card, which would once again require the customer to go back to their locker.  This simply does not work.  Instead waterparks should provide waterproof wristbands to all of their customers, which are barcoded for identification.  Here is how it would work:

At the initial purchase point (the frontgate), the waterpark point of sale would not only sell the admission price, but also “sell” cashless credits, or “wet cash”.  For example, a family of four would purchase their admission through the point of sale software, while additionally exchanging $20 of cash/credit for a barcoded wristband for each member of the family to make purchases throughout the day.  The barcode on the wristband would be scanned into the software and stored for later purchases.  The family members in return would receive their admission ticket, plus the 4 waterproof wristbands (which had their barcode scanned through the point of sale software, and the funds allocated appropriately). 

Each POS throughout the park would be set to only accept the wristband as a form of payment. For example, if one of the family members wanted to purchase a drink at one of the stores, he/she would simply walk up, present their wristband.  The wristband would be scanned by the cashier at the point of sale, which would let the cashier know there were enough funds to purchase the drink, while reducing the amount left on the wristband for future purchases throughout the day.

Waterpark Wristband

Each member of the family would then wear the wristband throughout the day, and utilize the barcode on the wristband to make a purchases when they wanted, without having to go find Mom or Dad, or return to their locker.

The key would be to have rechargeable point of sale stations throughout the waterpark.  Once the initial $20 is used, you certainly want to provide the customer the opportunity to add more wet cash to their wristband.

At the end of the day, the wristbands will be discarded by the customer, leaving cash, “float”, unused on the wristband. 

CenterEdge Software is a leading provider of facility management software for the entertainment and hospitality industries.  The Suite of software includes Point of Sale, Group Reservations, Birthday Reservations, Redemption Management, Time Clock, Employee Scheduling, Customer Loyalty Programs, Season Passes, Membership Management, Inventory Control, Online Ticketing and Reservations, and much, much more.

 

 

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