Cashless vending opens up a world of possibilities for event and festival organisers and theme park managers. It improves the customer experience, makes life simpler for your vendors and employees, and gives you a real-time management overview.
Benefits summary
- Real-time transaction monitoring and reporting
- Complete control over who has access to reports
- Reduced customer queueing and faster service times
- Safe and convenient payment taking
- Eliminates theft of cash and risk of robbery
- Customers can top-up online or on-site
- Easy to refund customers’ residual balances
Enhancing the customer experience
One of the biggest advantages of a cashless payment system is that it enhances the customer experience. For a start, simply not having to bring large amounts of cash to an event or to a theme park makes it safer for the customer and takes away any anxiety about losing the money.
The fact that cashless payment cards or wristbands can be topped up online or onsite means that running out of money doesn’t become an issue. Topping up is easy: finding a cash machine on a greenfield site isn’t. Even if you have traditional cash card readers, some events happen in places so remote that it is impossible to get a connection. Cashless payment doesn’t need an internet connection. This makes it far more convenient and reduces the possibility that people may have to leave early because they have spent up.
Cashless payments also make things quicker. As there is no need to count out the right amount of money and collect the change, or wait for the cash card machine to complete the payment process, service is speeded up dramatically. As a result, queues are shorter, waiting times are reduced and customers don’t become frustrated. You also retain the custom of those who get fed up of waiting and decide not to bother.
By using an RFID payment solution, you can improve customer satisfaction and ensure that they are having the best possible time.
Improving your frontline services
It’s not only your customers that benefit from RFID cashless vending, it also makes life easier for you and any third-party vendors who have paid to sell their products at your event.
Speedier service and shortened queues create a less stressful working environment. This reduces the likelihood of having to serve angry customers and of stressed out staff giving poor customer service. From a financial point of view, speeding up the flow of customers can mean you need less staff to serve customers and thus reduce wage bills.
There are other financial implications on the frontline too. Without cash, there is no possibility that money can be lost because of errors in calculating change or through receiving counterfeit money. Neither is there any money which can be lost or stolen. This also removes the risk of employees being robbed for the takings.
Improved management
The RFID cashless payment system does more than accept payments; it also enables real-time monitoring and reporting of the spending which is taking place. This has many management benefits, one of which is that you can get a complete overview of stock levels. This lets managers find out what stock is running low so that it can be replenished before it runs out. It also tells you whether there are some things which are not selling at all. If this is the case, sales can be improved by replacing them with alternative items. As this can be done in real time, it enables managers to make decisions that can have an immediate impact.
One of the other big advantages from a management perspective is with accounting. At the end of the day, there is no cash to count. The revenue is automatically tallied up and itemised and any outstanding balances can be transferred automatically back to the customers’ bank accounts. The itemised accounting also gives managers a complete overview of sales. You know what sells and what doesn’t. If you also take data from customers, it’s even possible to find out the spending patterns of different customer cohorts.
Cashless payment not only eliminates the need to tally up cash takings, it also means you don’t have to pay security firms to transport it to the bank. And as the money from customers goes into your account before they spend it, it leaves your company with a much healthier cash flow.
Cashless payment technology options
There are two main technology options that can be used at events, festivals and in theme parks: these are RFID wristbands and Smart Cards.
Wristbands are a popular solution because they are used at most events, festivals and theme parks anyway. Adding a cashless payment option means that the customer doesn’t need to carry any additional payment method and will always have the wristband with them. A wristband is also difficult to lose.
For cashless payments, you can use either paper or the more popular cloth wristbands. These enable the RFID tags to be embedded into them and can be personalised with your branding and design. They can be used to allow access through entry barriers, pay for items including food and drinks, top-up with credit and more.
Smart cards can be used as an alternative to wristbands and are ideal for when customers make repeat visits, such as theme parks with annual passes or for season ticket holders at football clubs. They work in the same way as a wristband and can be personalised as required. They also come with a range of security features.
Wrapping up
Cashless payment wristbands and smart cards, like those available from Universal Smart Cards, can bring enormous benefits to events, festivals and theme parks. They enhance the customer experience, reduce the workload for staff, increase safety and improve management capabilities. As a result, they can reduce costs. increase revenue and boost your reputation.
