Overview
Shaffer Entertainment operates a diverse group of businesses, including bars and taverns, bowling centers, family entertainment centers, movie theaters and restaurants.
For more than 30 years, strategic acquisitions have allowed Shaffer Entertainment to expand its footprint across the Midwest with additional locations in Indianapolis and Richmond, Indiana.
Recently, Shaffer expanded its footprint even further by providing its services to corporate accounts located throughout the United States.
Challenge: Remaining Relevant & Profitable While Mitigating Accounting Errors
Shaffer started out operating jukeboxes, pool tables, and video games, as well as 450 cigarette machines, in bars, movie theaters, and restaurants 15 years ago.
Indoor smoking bans negatively affected the Shaffer’s business, leading Shaffer to reevaluate their position and direction in the industry.
“A lot of [Shaffer’s] best customers also liked to smoke a lot of cigarettes, [so] what we didn’t plan on was the loss of other revenue streams from jukeboxes and pool tables,” said Andy Shaffer, President of Shaffer Entertainment.
This resulted in Shaffer taking the leap of faith and include family entertainment centers (FECs) among its business holdings.
Shaffer started with an indoor water park, Fort Rapids Water Park in Columbus, Ohio. They then expanded, opening Rule 3 in Pickerington, Ohio, an FEC with a bowling center and a 60-piece arcade.
After realizing their centers were hosting a lot of parties, and they were floating an accounting security risk by continuing to use coin operated games, Shaffer Entertainment decided to implement the Embed System.
Solutions they purchased included: emONE kiosks, range of smartTOUCH game card readers , Game Cards, point of sale (POS) machines, a prize redemption system, and Central Games Management software that connects all games across multiple FECs. They were integrated by business software that enables clear business visibility, tracking and reporting.
Solution: Switched from Coin System to Embed's Cashless System
Implementing the Embed System was not without reservation from Shaffer Entertainment's FEC owner-operators.
“One of the things the locations were nervous about was that FEC visitors were used to using tickets and tokens and making the switch to [an arcade cashless system] would be difficult,” Andy Shaffer recalled.
Once Shaffer got his locations on board, they promoted the benefits of changing to the Embed system, declaring their locations environmentally friendly by eliminating paper tickets.
Shaffer stated, “The promotion minimized potential frustration guests visiting these locations might experience because they thought the go-green promotion was cool, so no one argued against us being environmentally conscious.”
The benefits of switching from tickets and tokens to the Embed Cashless System were realized immediately.
As Shaffer Entertainment learned more about Embed's integrated business system and gained greater trust in the overall Embed Solution, it was a no-brainer to continue to switch its other large arcades from coin operated system to the Embed Cashless System.
Results: Witnessed 70% Reduction in Service Calls, Increased Profitability, Saved Time
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