Founded in 1981 in Hull, Iowa, Pizza Ranch offers an all-day pizza buffet, including a salad bar and The Country’s Best Chicken®. Select locations also offer a FunZone arcade, an entertainment destination for kids and adults, featuring the latest games and a full-service redemption center. In 2010, franchise owners in Sioux Falls, SD began to research the idea of adding an arcade into their locations, and thus, the FunZone arcade was born. It operated as the sole location until 2016 when additional franchise owners began opening FunZone arcades in their facilities as a means for an additional revenue stream for Pizza Ranch.

Website: https://pizzaranch.com/

Before working with Embed, Pizza Ranch had the vision to become not only a destination for legendary pizza and The Country’s Best Chicken® but also an entertainment destination for both kids and adults. Pizza Ranch researched ways to bring in additional revenue streams and separate themselves from the competition to attract more families and parties. The answer was an arcade with the latest and greatest games accompanied by a redemption center with high-end prizes. Mark Souba, Chief Development Officer, is an integral part of the successful deployment of FunZone arcades within the Pizza Ranch organization.

It was important for Pizza Ranch to go with a sole integrated business solutions provider as they built the FunZone brand’s infrastructure, thus leading them to exclusively partner with Embed to create a cohesive, integrated solution across all their franchise locations. “We have a complete structure around the FunZone business, and we’re poised for growth and supportability for our franchisees,” said Souba.

Implementing Embed’s integrated solution of contactless card readers, self-service kiosks, and prize redemption system enabled Pizza Ranch to optimize the guest experience at their arcades. Having one singular system across their entire operation allowed Pizza Ranch to create a standard operating procedure across all 35 FunZone locations.

One essential standardization that Pizza Ranch implemented is using the Power Charge option on Embed’s Kiosk. “The Kiosk is, by far, the most valuable tool in the FunZone arcade,” said Souba. “It’s very durable and has a good guest interface.” Pizza Ranch sees between 80-90% of all transactions going through the Kiosk instead of the POS. “We offer five core products, with three Power Charge options on the $10, $20, and $50 option,” Souba explained. “The Power Charge drives the average check by 82 cents per transaction, and 44% of the time, we see guests take the Power Charge option.” Pizza Ranch patrons will Power Charge their card more often on the higher dollar amount – 42% of guests Power Charge the $10 amount, while 56% will Power Charge $50. The value of offering the Power Charge option directly on the Kiosk, especially when so much traffic is driven via the Kiosk, is crucial to Pizza Ranch’s bottom line.

Solution Highlights:

• smartTOUCH readers
• PRIZES Redemption POS
• emONE Kiosks
• Mobile Wallet
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Consistent Guest Experience at Franchise Locations while Maintaining Aggressive Growth Schedule

After partnering with Embed, Pizza Ranch has fine-tuned its guest experience to create a seamless and consistent experience at all of its franchise locations. At the store level, all franchise owners can directly access Embed’s reports to monitor activity.

In contrast, on the corporate level, Pizza Ranch utilizes Embed’s API to create a data warehouse and design custom reports to oversee all FunZone locations. This has built confidence in the arcade business from corporate and franchise owners, leading them to grow the number of new arcades and grow the size and number of offerings in the arcades, like embracing virtual reality and a more diverse game and attractions portfolio.

Pizza Ranch has an aggressive growth schedule, anticipating double-digit growth in 2021. “Pizza Ranch poised to add 10-15 new FunZone locations this year and 20-25 over the next 24 months,” said Souba. “We’re always looking at trends to find the right new games and prize products to include, like virtual reality and golf simulators.”

As their business grows, Pizza Ranch has real-time visibility and control across their entire operation by installing Embed’s software platform, enabling entertainment business owners to achieve increased operational efficiency while reducing costs and increasing profitability.