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The future of money is envisioned as a digital paradise by many. A world in which all financial transactions are carried out purely through non-analogue means – a veritable cashless society.
Increasingly, we are seeing traditional banks and physical cash losing out to digital currencies and challenger FinTechs, with successive crises, particularly the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic – accelerating fundamental changes in how we handle and regulate money.
Many businesses in the Amusement and Entertainment business are going cashless. The trend has increased as it’s safer and makes sense for many customers. However, going cashless does not only mean using credit or debit cards, or applications, but it could also mean creating a whole new customised system using RFID wrist bands, tokens, virtual game cards and more. Bowling alleys, carnivals, arcades, and amusement parks are already transitioning to different methods that make sense for them and their guests.
Speaking about the same Renee Welsh, Chief Executive Officer, Embed and Booking Boss, spoke about how people have embraced innovative payment solutions and how Embed is redefining itself to cope with the continuous transformations. “We have been in this industry for 20 years. We effectively have deep operational knowledge of our industry and how it works. Our customers rely on us to utilize technology to take them into the future. A big reason customers choose to work with Embed is that they are not just investing in the technology we have today, but they are also investing to future-proof their businesses for years to come. As our tech development continues to grow, their business grows as well – they’ll get automatic updates of software; the strength of our cloud-based solutions that is the result of our winning partnership with Amazon. If Apple, Google, and Amazon chose to partner with Embed, why wouldn’t you?”
Transforming the business of fun since 2001, Embed is the ultimate cashless solutions provider for the amusement, entertainment, and leisure industries that brought its latest breakthrough innovations at the Dubai Entertainment Amusement and Leisure (DEAL) Show 2022, which took place from March 28-30.
Talking further about cashless technology, Welsh added: “We were in the cashless space and providing cashless technology and software well before it was popular. We have seen a significant transition over the last few years of entertainment businesses, going from manual processes of coins and tickets to cashless solutions. This has helped us to engage with our customers more actively and understand them better. We aim to provide a superior guest experience, so our technology development is centered around the guest experience because when the customer thrives, the operator thrives. And that’s at the heart of everything we do and how we do it.”
Powering your payment solution
At last year’s IAAPA Expo in Orlando, when Attractions professionals returned in-person to the trade show for the first time in two years, Embed unveiled its latest product – the self-service KIOSK+, which features one of the biggest touchscreen displays in the industry. It impressed attendees at the trade show with its expandable, customisable modularity, as well as its appealing design. Furthermore, it has a smaller footprint than 100 percent of the kiosks in the industry, enabling operators to use their retail space for revenue-generating games instead of bulky outdated kiosks.
Further discussing how cashless payments gained momentum around the COVID-19 pandemic, Welsh touched on the pointers that helped the business grow. “The pandemic has changed consumer behaviour in a way that cashless solutions like Embed cannot be ignored anymore. It has allowed us to understand our customers, who they are, what they are doing in our facility, which helps in creating a loyalty around their brand so they can drive return visitors, which we can’t do with cash and tickets because they are largely anonymous.”
Crucially, going cashless ensures strict control over a budget and can save notable sums. At a time when the industry is increasingly mindful of environmental sustainability, this fresh approach to spending also vastly reduces the amount of paper.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has acted as a forcing function and accelerated the adoption of cashless payments and interactions, which has been very positive for several reasons. One is that it’s lower touch and it’s much more convenient. From an operational perspective, we are moving away from all of the manual processes, which cost a lot of money from an administration operations perspective. The hardware and software solutions at Embed eliminate problems caused by operating on tokens and tickets such as high purchase costs for materials and additional maintenance costs for coin jams and labour – not to mention operational downtimes,” explained Welsh.
Enduring loyalty
Customer retention and loyalty strategies are an integral part of an entertainment business success plan. Embed’s Mobile Wallet, part of the Mobile Portal module, is simple and convenient for guests to use. It is cloud-based and there are no applications to download. It’s a virtual game card that sits in a consumers’ mobile wallet. Operators can readily bundle offers, drive repeat visits and deepen customer loyalty. The only Apple and Google certified mobile payment solution in the industry since its launch in 2019 – customers can easily purchase and reload cards from their phones without leaving the game.
Further talking about the partnership with Apple, Google and AWS, Welsh added: “We understand that we are on a mission to provide critical solutions to the businesses that use our technology and rely on us to manage everything. We look at the future of technology and assess how that is going to increase revenue and reduce operational and administration costs. We constantly work to provide a seamless experience for our customers. We have been able to achieve this through our deep operational knowledge, and also our partnerships with AWS, Google and Apple. Our partnerships with these three titans of the industry got us access to a lot of their pilot technology, which enables us to experiment, test and look at the applicability for the family entertainment centre of the future, which is very exciting.”
Plans to expand
Embed showcased the demos of the new KIOSK+, the award-winning Mobile Wallet, the integrated cloud-based software solution TOOLKIT, the smartTOUCH arcade debit game card reader, and a full range of wearable tech and game cards at the DEAL show.
The company established its first office in the UAE in 2013. Talking about the plans of expanding the operations in the UAE and the Middle East, Welsh added: “We work with some of the biggest companies in the UAE like Magic Planet and Global Village. We are now looking at expanding into Saudi Arabia as we have got several customers there. The Middle East is unique on its own. Currently, the global family entertainment industry is growing at a rate of 11 percent, but the Middle East is accelerating that pace at 13-14 percent. A big part of the recognition in this region came years ago that entertainment is an important pillar in their strategy for growth. A lot of the facilities here in the UAE are world-class as they look at technology, understand the value of a company like an Embed, that are the innovators in the technology sector, which enables, empowers, and eases their operations.”
“We are seeing an acceleration in spending because consumers finally have been led out of their homes. They are desperate for human and social interaction and just want to have fun and create more memories for their family and friends. I think those two things are driving the accelerated growth here as the UAE controlled the post-pandemic situation swiftly,” spoke Welsh.
Lastly, speaking about Embed’s journey throughout the years, Welsh takes us back to the initial days when Embed was gearing up to become one of the leading players in its genre. “We have a rich legacy in the family entertainment, arcade, and amusement space, dating right back to 1956, when our founders owned and operated their own family entertainment center – they developed the cashless tech solution for their family entertainment business. 20 years ago, they offered it to other family entertainment centers and thus Embed was born. It’s in the DNA of our history – we are innovators and pioneers. We are constantly looking at how we can improve our technology and services in this industry, all the while ensuring that our services and care are optimal. We even launched a complete online help desk and 24/7 support, specifically in the UAE region and globally. There are so many exciting things that we are doing, and we are also utilising new technologies to drive our services, which is beneficial for our customers.”
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