Managing a family entertainment center requires a lot of moving parts that can be quite a challenge to manage at times!
Luckily, there is a wide variety of software solutions available to help streamline the process.
We’ve written this article to help you find the best family entertainment center software for you. We’ve also written an article on digital marketing strategies for FEC businesses that you oughta check out as well.
Without further ado, let’s start with the big question…
What family entertainment centers software should do?
There are a certain number of tasks that you can expect any effective family entertainment center software to be able to perform.
These include;
- Conducting ticketing and admissions
- Overseeing customer management
- Aiding scheduling and reservations
- Managing inventory
- Reporting and analytics
Let’s examine these tasks and look at why they are so important.
Conducting ticketing and admissions
It doesn’t matter how fun your family entertainment center is if your ticketing system is a chore.
Using software to streamline your ticketing system creates an easy and flexible experience for anybody looking to purchase tickets.
Additionally, the software you use can help you keep records of ticket sales that inform practically all aspects of your business; from pricing, to scheduling to capacity.
Because ticketing and admissions make for a fundamental part of your business, it’s important that you pick software that makes this process as easy as possible.
Overseeing customer management
Customer data plays an important role in the continued success of any business, not just family entertainment centers.
With the right software, you’ll be able to securely store customer profiles that include contact information, preferences, and purchase and attendance history.
With this information; you can coordinate personalised promos, gather feedback and customer insight, and create a safer environment for your customers.
When selecting software, you need to make sure you know exactly the kind of customer information you need to collect. That way, you can make sure the software you pick works for you.
Aiding scheduling and reservations
You know what’s not fun? Inefficiency and inconvenience.
That’s why the goal of family entertainment center software is to make scheduling and reservations as painless as possible.
You want families to be able to plan out their day by selecting activities, times, and dates that work best for them without needing to worry about wait times and whether your venue will be at capacity.
That’s why the software you decide to use should have automated scheduling and reservation amongst its features.
Managing inventory
This often gets overlooked by family entertainment centers, but inventory management is a key aspect of making sure your venue runs smoothly.
Whether it’s food and beverages, merchandise, or any other kind of stock you might have – you need to be able to keep track of it. Software automation makes that a lot easier.
With the right software, you’ll be able to keep track of your inventory levels in real-time, which enables you to make informed decisions about purchasing and replenishing your stock.
Reporting and analytics
This feature is for future-proofing your business, more so than ensuring your day-to-day operations.
You can collect data about how your business is performing overall, the activities that are popular among your customers, the performance of your staff, etc.
Knowledge is power, so make sure that the software you choose gives you the information to optimise all aspects of your business.
The best family entertainment centers software
Now that you know what you need, it’s time to find the software that incorporates all of it into a software solution that works for you.
Let’s look at the best family entertainment centers software of 2023!
Best value software – VenueSumo
VenueSumo family entertainment center software is a cloud-based venue management software that comes with online ticket purchasing, waiver management, POS, CRM, party bookings, BYO payments, extensive reporting & analytics, inventory management & even allows API integrations.
This software has been built with venue owners in mind, allowing you to modify the platform to your venues unique needs and guests.
Get your VenueSumo demo here.
CenterEdge Advantage – For a solid all-rounder solution
CenterEdge Advantage includes a wide range of tools, including ticketing, admissions, food and beverage sales, inventory management, customer relationship management (CRM), marketing, reporting, and analytics. The software is highly customisable, allowing you to tailor it to your specific needs and requirements.
Some of the key features of CenterEdge Advantage include:
- Flexible pricing and discount options for admission, games, and food and beverage items
- Integration with a variety of payment processing systems
- Real-time inventory management and tracking
- Customer loyalty and reward programs
- Customisable reporting and analytics tools
- Online booking and ticketing capabilities
- Access control and security features
“We do not mind paying for their software because it works beautifully, we can customize it to exactly what we need, and they support it wonderfully.” (Source)
Request an online demo for CenterEdge Advantage today.
ROLLER – For extensive reporting and analytics
ROLLER is a cloud-based solution that provides a comprehensive suite of tools and features to help you manage your operations and provide an exceptional customer experience.
It includes modules for managing ticketing and admissions, bookings and reservations, memberships, point-of-sale transactions, and more. It also includes features for marketing and customer engagement, such as email and SMS marketing, loyalty programs, and customer feedback.
One of the key benefits of ROLLER is its real-time reporting and analytics capabilities. The software provides detailed insights into operations and customer behaviour, allowing you to make data-driven decisions to improve your operations and drive revenue growth.
“ROLLER works great… the reporting options and open API have been useful for back-end operations.” (Source)
ROLLER has multiple pricing plans, starting at $450/month. Start a free trial or request a demo today.
Operandio – For managing your internal frontline team
Operandio is a slightly different kind of software for FECs. The focus of Operandio is on your frontline staff and optimisng all the tasks that need to be completed each shift by each team to keep your FEC running smoothly.
Operandio is really a frontline operations management platform and is used by a number of multi-activity businesses to streamline operations.
The main function of Operandio is digital checklists and recurring tasks. Managers can create and assign tasks to individual employees or teams, set deadlines and priorities, and track progress in real-time. This can help to improve accountability and ensure that projects are completed on time and to a high standard.
The software includes a range of features that can help businesses streamline their operations and improve efficiency, such as procedures & SOP management, staff onboarding, staff certification management, employee scheduling, time tracking, refridgeration temperature loggin, task management, and reporting.
“This is the 2nd company I’ve used Operandio at now, and it’s so far superior to anything else that I’ve seen in the market. It really is such a great all in one operational platform for managing our workforce and systematising our operations!” (Source)
Operandio has pricing plans for businesses and entire enterprises. Request a demo today.
PartyCenter – For complete scalability across multiple devices
As you can probably guess from the name, PartyCenter is a software solution designed specifically for the family entertainment center industry. It offers a suite of tools to help including online party bookings, event management, POS systems, CRM tools, and more.
You can streamline your party booking process by allowing customers to book and pay for activities online, eliminating the need for manual paperwork and reducing errors. The software also includes features for managing details such as catering, decorations, and activities.
One of its major benefits is that it is completely scalable across devices including;
- Desktops
- Laptops
- Tablets
- Mobile phones
“We are opening our first FEC and could not be more relieved to have found PCS… I could not have felt so confident without them!” (Source)
PartyCenter has multiple pricing options, starting with a Core option at $399 per month. Request a demo for PartyCenter today.
KORONA.POS – For cloud functionality
KORONA .POS is software designed to help businesses manage their operations and transactions; with a range of features, including inventory management, employee management, customer relationship management, and reporting and analytics.
One of the key benefits of KORONA POS is that it is cloud-based, which means that it can be accessed from anywhere with an internet connection. This makes it easy for businesses to manage their operations, even if they have multiple locations or employees working remotely.
“Korona makes it so easy to manage my business remotely. I can easily update pricing, enter stock receipts and view all my sales data from the website.” (Source)
KORONA is perfect for smaller businesses, with multiple pricing plans starting at $59 per month. You can schedule a demo or start a free trial today.
Aluvii – For customisability
One of the key features of Aluvii software is its customisability. The platform is highly flexible and can be tailored to your specific needs. This means that you can choose the features you need and leave out the ones you don’t, ensuring that the software is a perfect fit for you.
Like the other entries on this list, Aluvii comes with features such as ticketing, POS, scheduling, inventory management, party bookings, and CRM, as well as a variety of reporting and analytics tools.
Aluvii software also sets itself apart with its user-friendly design. The platform is intuitive and easy to use, even for staff members who may not be tech-savvy. It can be accessed from any device with an internet connection, making it easy for your staff to manage their operations from anywhere.
“Aluvii is designed to be easy to use and set up… seamlessly integrates with third-party applications and across different locations.” (Source)
You can request a free demo for Aluvii today.
Which family entertainment center software is right for you?
With the options available, it can be difficult to decide which software is the right one for you. Given that a lot of them have free trials and demos, we recommend trying these options for yourself.
We hope this article gave you everything you need to find the best family entertainment centers software of 2023 for you.
In the meantime, visit Digital Treasury for more information on how to use technology to optimise your business.
Contact us to learn more.