Automating prepayment within your current operations is not only efficient and profitable for your venue, but also enhances customer experience. Let’s take a deeper look:
1. Decreases no-show rate
Prepayment drastically increases the percentage of customers who show up the night of their reservation. Whether customers pre-pay for a ticket, VIP table, or pay for their guestlist cover in advance, they are more likely to show up when there’s money on the line.
2. Increases efficiency
You’ve seen it before: guests don’t have the right amount of cash for cover, they unsuccessfully make excuses to the host as to why they don’t have the cash, they run to the ATM to get cash, and then argue with their friends over how to split cover between everyone. All of this slows down the speed of the night and takes away from your guests spending money inside your club. Simply allowing parties to prepay either online or via mobile alleviates headaches and gets them spending money inside faster.
3. Reduces the bottleneck
While a line outside your club portrays a highly desired venue, it’s important to distinguish between a line for looks and a line due to inefficiency. Most patrons don’t mind waiting in line to get into your club as long as the line is moving and they know they will eventually get in. However, If the wait is too long or the line doesn’t move at all, they will likely move on to the next venue. Many clubs alleviate this by having a separate line for their guestlist patrons, which better manages guests going in. Take this a step further and allow patrons to prepay. This not only helps to manage the line, but also increases cash flow while decreasing the bottleneck.
4. Benefits the customer
Guests care most about their experience at your club. Prepayment enhances this experience – it gives them more time to get positive vibes inside your venue rather than resenting their experience outside. It also alleviates the burden of carrying the exact amount of cash for cover while emphasizing their status amongst friends.
5. Provides incremental revenue
The best part about prepayment is its ROI. It’s easy and inexpensive to install into your club without drastically deterring your current operations, and it increases revenue you never would receive without it. You collect guests’ payment much sooner than at the door. You monetize the line and collect cover even when guests don’t show. And your no-show VIP tables are now an opportunity rather than a loss. Instead of taking a hit for an unused table, you now collect the original reservation fee and have the chance to fill it with another guest that same night.
Parag Shah is the Director of Vēmos. Contact him at parag.shah@vemos.io
