Close Menu
  • CURRENT ISSUE
    • Cover Story
    • Profiles – Companies, Products & People
    • Spotlight Feature
    • VR Spotlight
    • Favorites & Special Reports
    • Bob Cooney Special Reports
    • Editorial
    • Datebook
    • Columns
      • Q&A with AMOA
      • Q&A with AAMA
      • NOW TRENDING by Howard McAuliffe & Nick DiMatteo
      • George McAuliffe’s GAMEROOM GURU
      • Adam Pratt’s ENDGAME
      • Jack Guarnieri’s JERSEY JACK
      • Beth Standlee’s PARTY PROFESSOR
      • Clint Novak’s PRIZE PATROL
      • FUN ACROSS AMERICA
      • Frank Seninsky’s FRANK TALK
      • Tom Fricke’s REDEMPTION & THE LAW
      • Randy White GUEST ESSAY
  • INSTANT REPLAY
  • PODCASTS & VIDEOS
    • The RePlay Podcast
    • Machines, Myths & Legends
    • Older Audio/Video Archive
  • GET REPLAY
    • Subscriptions
    • Sample Copies
    • Order Back Issues
    • Index
  • ABOUT
    • About RePlay Magazine
    • Meet the Team
    • Cookie Policy
  • LINKS
  • CONTACT
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
Trending
  • Ohio Coin-Op Elects Directors at Annual Meeting
  • Dave & Buster’s New CEO Former Yum! Brands Exec
  • FEC Success Institute Heading to Myrtle Beach
  • Sacoa’s KwikPay to Help Ease Contactless Operations
  • Harkins Theatres Debuts BackLot FEC
  • Foundations Next Week Featuring Industry Experts
  • Arachnid’s Mike Gannon Retires After 42-Year Career
  • Jim Hines Returns to Univest
X (Twitter) Facebook RSS Instagram YouTube
RePlay Magazine
  • CURRENT ISSUE
    • Cover Story
    • Profiles – Companies, Products & People
    • Spotlight Feature
    • VR Spotlight
    • Favorites & Special Reports
    • Bob Cooney Special Reports
    • Editorial
    • Datebook
    • Columns
      • Q&A with AMOA
      • Q&A with AAMA
      • NOW TRENDING by Howard McAuliffe & Nick DiMatteo
      • George McAuliffe’s GAMEROOM GURU
      • Adam Pratt’s ENDGAME
      • Jack Guarnieri’s JERSEY JACK
      • Beth Standlee’s PARTY PROFESSOR
      • Clint Novak’s PRIZE PATROL
      • FUN ACROSS AMERICA
      • Frank Seninsky’s FRANK TALK
      • Tom Fricke’s REDEMPTION & THE LAW
      • Randy White GUEST ESSAY
  • INSTANT REPLAY
  • PODCASTS & VIDEOS
    • The RePlay Podcast
    • Machines, Myths & Legends
    • Older Audio/Video Archive
  • GET REPLAY
    • Subscriptions
    • Sample Copies
    • Order Back Issues
    • Index
  • ABOUT
    • About RePlay Magazine
    • Meet the Team
    • Cookie Policy
  • LINKS
  • CONTACT
RePlay Magazine
You are at:Home»Current Issue»COLUMNS»Gameroom Guru – November 2016
Changes in the game room experience have been numerous through the years. The latest opportunity is creating a redemption store, instead of the traditional counter. As the redemption center is typically the last stop before leaving, give your customers a positive lasting impression with a retail-quality redemption experience. (Photo courtesy of Redemption Plus.)

Gameroom Guru – November 2016

0
By RePlay Editor on November 1, 2016 COLUMNS, Current Issue, George McAuliffe's GAMEROOM GURU

The Evolving Industry

Becoming “Mainstream” and the Benefits of the Redemption Store

By George McAuliffe, Chief FEC Strategist, Redemption Plus

George McAuliffe
George McAuliffe

W.  Deming was a great management thinker of the 20th century. When his ideas for changing the U.S. auto industry manufacturing practices were rejected, he went to Japan. The result was unprecedented growth in the Japanese auto industry (and steep decline in the U.S. causing us to play catch up). Perhaps Deming’s most famous quote is “It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory.”

The FEC world has enjoyed its own changes over the years. Starting with the venue: the combination of bowling and family entertainment attractions has revitalized our industry in recent years. I’ve written a lot about how the change from tokens to debit card systems (DCS) has benefitted us by creating a better experience, supporting higher game and attraction pricing, providing labor savings, reduced service issues, better management intelligence, and improved marketing tools. An offshoot most recently is the consumer acceptance of redemption e-tickets, a terrific add-on change to DCS that has “arrived.”

Mainstreaming

I’ve hesitated to say this out loud, but I’m starting to think that the arcade has become mainstream entertainment. For the first half of my 38 years in the business we didn’t even use the word “arcade.” It had connotations of smoke filled hangouts where all sorts of undesirable behavior could occur. That attitude was left over from decades before, but it was real and had to be fought with mall developers, city zoning boards, and parents. Today, we see the arcade (and the FECs of which it is a part) not only arriving, but rising in the popular culture. For a taste of what I mean, check out the Saturday Night Live intro every week, pay attention to the settings in popular TV shows and witness the demand from corporations as a venue for their offsite gatherings. Today, we are entertaining three generations of players.

Those successes didn’t just happen, they are the result of the changes we’ve made in how we operate. Central to those changes has been the rise of redemption. Manufacturers have given us a steady stream of compelling games with wide age and gender appeal. Redemption suppliers have moved beyond cheap, plastic novelty toys (veterans will remember when it was called “slum” goods). Today we offer a variety of toys, electronics, sporting goods and collectibles that the public appreciates and is willing to play for.

Latest Opportunity: Redemption Stores

In recent years, I’ve become concerned about the “sameness” in how our redemption counters present themselves. Even when we diligently change the merchandise, it is not always perceived as change due to our merchandising practices as an industry.

As a true believer in Deming’s words, that makes me nervous. It has caused me to rethink my previous rules for when a redemption store is worthwhile versus a counter.

In our consulting practice we always felt like $500,000 in game room sales was a good benchmark to consider a full store over a counter. Space is a consideration, of course: A store consumes more and has to be weighed against the revenue of displaced games. On the other hand, a redemption store can be operated with less labor than a counter. But the calculation goes beyond those tangibles.

We operate our businesses today in the “Experience Economy.” Today’s consumers expect a great experience in their lives and certainly for their entertainment time and dollars.

There is this thing called the “peak-end rule” (google “peak-end” and you will find plenty of research). Wiki­pedia defines it as: “a psychological heuristic in which people judge an experience largely based on how they felt at its peak and at its end, rather than based on the total sum or average of … the experience.”

The last thing most FEC attendees do before heading home is redeem their redemption tickets. The redemption check out experience is the last impression they will have of their visit and therefore has tremendous influence on their decision to return.

With a greater appreciation every year about how experience drives success in FECs, we have adjusted our parameters down on space and sales volume as to when a redemption store is the best choice. Guest Experience simply gets more weight in the calculation.

In a store setting, guests do their own shopping and prize choice, unassisted by staff as in a counter scenario. They enjoy the ability to “touch and feel” the merchandise as they shop and browse, just like a typical retail shopping experience. In addition, the scale and novelty of the redemption store supports a high perceived value of the entire game room experience, supporting higher spending per visit and increased repeat visitation. We see the results in our client base: Where we have retrofitted counters with stores, we see higher game room sales with increases as high as 25%.

Redemption stores simply are the better choicewhenever possible for en­suring that the guest’s last im­pression is a great one.


George McAuliffe has created and operated family entertainment centers from 2,000 to 150,000 square feet as a corporate executive, entrepreneur and consultant. He’s President of Pinnacle Entertain­ment Group and leads the company’s strategic advisory team. George, recently moved back “home” to the Jersey Shore with his wife Julie, has a passion for passing along what he’s learned in the fun business to the new generation of operators and suppliers.

Readers can visit  grouppinnacle.com for more information or  contact George at georgemc@group
pinnacle.com; phone: 314-422-7197.

Gameroom Guru George McAuliffe Pinnacle Entertainment Group Redemption Plus Redemption Stores
Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
Previous ArticleAdrenaline Amusements – November 2016
Next Article Jersey Jack – November 2016

Related Posts

Prize Patrol – July 2025

Endgame – July 2025

Jersey Jack – July 2025

Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.







RePlay Logo

RePlay Magazine is a monthly trade publication covering the game center and route business. Since 1975, RePlay has been reporting on the equipment, people and trends that have made "coin-op" a fun and exciting business.

Get the FREE Instant RePlay Newsletter

Sign up and receive newsletters to keep you in the know.


© 2025 RePlay Magazine - All rights reserved. For permission to reproduce content, email [email protected].
  • About
  • Privacy
  • Contact

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.