Offer Bundle Deals
Bundled deals will be a key method for luring customers to spend more, particularly for families and groups. Bundled deals not only increase the amount of money spent per visit but also enhance customer satisfaction. According to industry data, sales from bundled deals are usually 20-30% higher compared to selling products individually, which makes it crucial for an arcade operator’s revenue boost.
You can set different levels of game token packages: buying 100 tokens gets you 10 free; buying 200 gets you 30 free. In that way, a customer will feel that the more they purchase tokens, the more they save, hence spending more.
Offer family or group packages for families and groups. Sell a “Family Fun Pack” inclusive of a certain number of tokens, food, and drinks. Such packages would be especially popular on weekends and holidays. Parents coming to the arcade along with their kids will always prefer an all-in-one package that includes entertainment, food, and drinks for their children. These will be very convenient to handle since, according to surveys, 80% of families prefer one-stop entertainment when they have kids due to the convenience associated with it.
You can also tie up with local food retailers to provide combined packages for food, games, and movies for a better integration of entertainment. You can tie up with a theater nearby and introduce a “Movie + Arcade” deal where the customer can get discounts in the arcades in collaboration after watching a movie. Cross-industry bundle promotion helps to increase the revenue of arcades and also expands the customer base.
Special Theme Days
This has been considered one of the most popular and effective promotional ideas in the arcade industry. It increases customers’ visits at off-peak times with just negligible costs to operators. By organizing theme days, arcade operators get to attract a large number of customers because of their unique experience.
An example of such success took place in a large California arcade. They built a weekly “Retro Game Night” every Friday that attracted a big crowd of gaming lovers from the 80s and 90s. These retro game enthusiasts did not just stop at playing games but also made extra purchases, buying drinks, snacks, and even some memorabilia items.
You can also apply very hot IPs or games to plan themed events. You can issue a “Mario Theme Day” for fans of the Super Mario series, which will attract loyal players to participate in competitions or time-limited activities. Prizes can also be given away, like Mario dolls or costumes, to enhance user participation and loyalty further.
Special theme day setting can be combined with a different holiday. For example, on Halloween, you can decorate the arcade into a haunted house style in combination with horror-themed arcade games, tempting younger groups, or offer a “Couple’s Double Package” on Valentine’s Day to increase couple visitors.
Holiday and Seasonal Promotions
Other effective ways include holiday or seasonal promotions. Statistics in the arcade industry indicate that during holiday periods, revenues increase by 40-60% compared to regular times; thus, making full use of holidays to promote businesses is quite necessary.
Large-scale promotions can be carried out on important traditional festivals, such as Lunar New Year or National Day. Examples are token promotions at a “Recharge 100, Get 50 Free” rate or double points in certain periods that could allow customers to come frequently. This kind of promotion will attract customers who want to spend a relatively large amount, as free time and entertainment budget is big during holidays.
And seasonal promotions, too. During summer vacation, you can introduce a “Summer Fun Pass,” wherein customers can buy a monthly or seasonal pass that will entitle them to unlimited access to play for the period of the pass. It was usually observed in studies that spending in arcades is higher among teens and school students during summer vacation, and there is no better way to ramp up your revenues than by offering packages or membership cards to suit this customer segment. Once, a famous arcade launched the “Summer Pass” promotion and increased quarterly revenue directly by 25%.
Sellers can also provide arcade operators with gift cards for big holidays like Christmas and Valentine’s Day. Gift cards not only account for a gift but also can ensure repeat visits and additional spending. According to industry analysis, customers using a gift card usually spend 20-30% more than the value of the card.
Tournament Events
Tournament events promote the arcade to loyal players and new customers alike, raising its profile and revenue. Indeed, the survey has recorded that buyers participating in arcade tournaments spend more than 50% extra on top of what was initially budgeted; meanwhile, revenue from event days is usually 1.5 to 2 times higher than on regular days.
You can organize tournaments according to various arcade game types. Fighting, racing, and other competitive games go great with tournaments because these types of games bring in people who enjoy challenges. Attractive prizes, like cash or special edition arcade merchandise, will also be in order.
Social media will be a good method to promote events within a tournament. Posting event previews, reports, and live streaming of some tournament matches on social platforms can be done; the visibility of the event and the arcade brand influence will improve. Once, an arcade conducted live streaming for their tournament finals on TikTok attracting over 100,000 viewers, and this interaction between online and offline effectively expanded the reach.
You can also organize tournaments, from low to highly skilled, depending on the game at hand. Casual gamers would be content with simple, beginner-level tournaments, while a highly professional completion will attract more advanced players and even extra spectators.
Arcade Membership System
Establishing a membership system is a very good way to retain long-time customers. Membership not only enhances customer loyalty but also provides stable revenue. According to the data from a chain arcade brand, generally a member spends 50% more every year compared to a non-member, and hence, developing membership is of great profit to the arcade operator.
You can have membership levels ranging from basic, middle, and premium members. The more middle and high class it gets in this case, the more discounts it will tend to receive, along with better benefits. The basic members may get a certain percentage back upon every recharge, while for premium members, the perks are very exclusive, right from getting one free tournament entry every month to early access to new game releases.
Membership can also be combined with family packages, such as issuing a family membership card, enabling family members to share the benefits. This will not only attract more family customers but increase spending through added-value services. For instance, each member of the family could get free snacks for every visit or double points on special holidays. These kinds of family-oriented membership systems bring about customer loyalty and repeat visits.
There could be certain activities exclusively for members that further enhance their experience. You could have game previews exclusively for members, whereby they get invited to try out new arcade games first, or there could be high-score challenges where only members are able to take part. This feeling of exclusivity will result in increased satisfaction and renewals amongst members.
In other words, customer loyalty can provide a big boost in profitability for arcade operators without adding many operational costs by offering flexibility in utilizing bundle deals, theme days, holiday promotions, tournaments, and membership systems. It is all about designing promotions to cater to different target audiences and consumer habits so that long-term stability in profitability can be achieved.
