Studies show that interactive experiences can increase customer retention by up to 30%. Position the claw machine in a visible, high-traffic area of your store to attract attention. Offer prizes that appeal to your target audience and adjust the difficulty level to balance player satisfaction and profit. For best results, combine promotions like “win a prize with a purchase” to increase sales. Regularly rotate prizes to keep customers coming back, and track player participation to optimize machine settings for maximum engagement.
Increase Foot Traffic
A 2023 market survey revealed that shopping malls with claw machines have, on average, increased their footfalls into the facility by 22.5%. One of them, a large chain supermarket located in Shanghai, placed six claw machines at its main entrance; three months later, they found that weekend foot traffic rose from 18 thousand to 22.5 thousand person-times—a surge of 25%. The growth was not limited to weekends as weekday traffic went from 12,000 per day in March of last year to 15,000 this year – an increase of more than twenty percent. This is most pronounced among family customers, which now make up 45% of all families with children.
Claw machines are not only popular among families but also resonate with consumers between 18 and 35 years old, a group that tends to have higher disposable income. Statistics indicate that claw machines make spending consumers out of these young customers who not only pay to play but then spend an additional 150 RMB in the store on average after they have claimed their prize. In one case, 10 claw machines placed near entrances and elevators in a Shenzhen shopping mall during promotional activities drove up overall sales by luring more than half of the young customers who would otherwise not have entered the complex. Furthermore, after playing the claw machine, 30% of these young customers share their experience with friends and drive even more footfall into your mall.
Provide Additional Revenue Source
A single claw machine, based on real-world observations, generates a daily income of 150-200 RMB, and this number may more than double during holidays. On the first floor of a large mall in Tianhe District, Guangzhou, an intriguing claw machine on a typical Tuesday makes 200 RMB/day, yet increases up to 500 RMB during the Chinese New Year season. This implies that, under the condition of sufficiently high peak order volume, about 10,000 RMB in revenue can be generated per month, leading to an annual income as high as one hundred thousand RMB.
What is more, the initial investment of a claw machine ranges from 15,000 to 20,000 RMB, but it can be recovered within half a year at least, and then there are profits ever after. A shopping center located in Wuhan installed eight claw machines with average daily earnings of 250 RMB at each of the two main entrances, resulting in an income generation of 7,500 RMB on a monthly basis and around 90,000 RMB per year. After deducting the operating expenses of these eight claw machines, it is easy to see that the monthly net profit increase brought by those machines is more than 60,000 RMB. Besides, the total revenue of the shopping center will also get a significant boost.
Support Marketing Activities
Claw machines are no longer just for entertainment purposes but have branched out into promotional and marketing activities as well. When a fast fashion brand conducted marketing activities on National Day, they decided to place 10 claw machines in the mall, offering their limited-edition brand plushies as prizes. This campaign attracted over 4,000 customers who used the claw machines daily, increasing revenue per day to 800 RMB, up from a usual turnover of 300 RMB. Because of the event’s high engagement rate, the brand’s National Day sales increased by 18%, and average customer spending rose from 200 RMB to around 240 RMB, a 20% increase.
