Monster Mini-Golf
USA
Not only did they gain cohesion between locations with customizable offerings at each venue, but they also received arcade management software, self-service kiosks, and fully integrated online reservations and e-commerce at all locations creating a more seamless experience for guests. Other installments featured include RFID-based debit card systems and RFID Lumin readers for “tap-to-play” functionality.
“Training is straightforward, the system is user-friendly, and RFID cards enhance the guest experience by limiting frustration during play,” explained King. “Of the venues we did move over, there was a 25-30 percent immediate jump in revenue, including arcade play, as well as the ability to create and sell attraction combinations.”
Most of the Monster Mini Golf locations have already made the shift to Semnox, with the exception of a handful of locations still in the transitioning stages. By the Fall of 2024, Monster Entertainment plans to have all 30-plus locations and future locations powered by Semnox Solutions.
“After learning of Semnox through another industry partner, we quickly discovered that they placed ethics and prompt, sincere customer service at the top of their list, and I believe, as a result of their self-pride, the Semnox system is top-notch in both technology and reliability. In addition, our franchisees are more than pleased with the lack of exorbitant and unnecessary fees.”
Monster Mini Golf is a chain of franchised family entertainment centers that delivers a unique and quirky spin on family entertainment for all ages. Founded in 2004 and franchised in 2005, the corporate franchisor division of Monster Mini Golf, Monster Entertainment, is one of the fastest-growing family entertainment franchises in the industry, with a reputation for excellence, strong guest experience, and retention.
Guests can experience monstrous attractions at state-of-the-art, indoor, climate-controlled facilities completely under the luminescent glow of black lights. Each location features an 18-hole glow-in-the-dark mini golf course, video, and redemption arcade games, three-dimensional animatronic props, an in-house radio station, party rooms for hosting birthday parties and other special events, as well as laser-tag, laser-maze, and bowling in some of the newer, larger facilities.
In April 2022, Founders Christina and Patrick Vitagliano were approached by giant conglomerates about selling the Monster Mini Golf brand but decided to sell to their top five franchisees in January 2023 instead. Monster Mini Golf has grown organically over the past 17+ years and its new owners have plans to aggressively accelerate growth in the coming years. The company currently boasts over 30 locations spanning the United States and Canada.
Being one of the fastest-growing family entertainment franchises in the industry, Monster Mini Golf needed a way to provide central reporting to HQ and cohesion among its franchisees.
Chris King, President of Monster Entertainment, explains, “The challenge with moving to Semnox is that we offer our franchise owners some flexibility within their market, which is different from other Semnox multi-unit partners. Together we had to create a hybrid scenario to develop all needs effectively.”
Monster Entertainment needed central reporting, but their locations all ran on different POS systems with varying promotions, special packages, and loyalty programs at each location making it difficult to track analytics across the company.
“As a system, our operators were using several POS Systems as well as various 3rd party applications to operate their centers. This was a barrier to effective management and analysis of our business, as we had no unification or top-level transparency,” said King.
In addition, some venues were still using token-based arcade games, while others used magnetic swipe cards for gameplay. With gross sales up 30 to 40 percent from pre-pandemic years and continuing to excel in 2023, Monster Mini Golf lacked the synchronized hardware and software needed at its locations for the accelerated expansion the company was on.
Hiring has been an issue for most businesses post-COVID. With the help of Semnox Solutions, GameTime decided to make some operational changes to help reduce labor needs, which led to the removal of all game card host stations to make way for self-service kiosks instead:
A versatile, full-sized self-service kiosk from Semnox that lets guests buy cards, recharge, and check balances — built for high-traffic entertainment venues.
A versatile, full-sized self-service kiosk from Semnox that lets guests buy cards, recharge, and check balances — built for high-traffic entertainment venues.
A versatile, full-sized self-service kiosk from Semnox that lets guests buy cards, recharge, and check balances — built for high-traffic entertainment venues.
A versatile, full-sized self-service kiosk from Semnox that lets guests buy cards, recharge, and check balances — built for high-traffic entertainment venues.
“We had a positive shift in guest behavior when we implemented the self-service kiosks for game card purchases, so adding the redemption kiosks just made sense,” explained Mike. “About 55% of redemptions have moved to the redemption kiosks, which removes the selection process and cuts back on staffing. We were able to really impact not only labor but the guest experience because it’s a better self-driven experience.”
As self-service kiosks became the new normal, there was a substantial shift in the guest experience that resulted in 65 percent of transactions being done on the kiosks with a 14 percent increase in upsells within the first 30 days. With the success of the self-service kiosks, implementing the Semnox Self-Service Redemption Kiosks was a no-brainer.
After meeting with several companies and discussing pain points with the founders and the new team of owners at Monster Entertainment, they thought they were ready to make a change.
“At the 11th hour, a video game rep told us we might want to look at this other company,” said King regarding Semnox. Once he connected with Semnox, King continues, “The technology was there, and from a tech company they seemed to have more of a human feel to them. They flew someone out to meet with me two days later. It was that immediate response that just felt more connected than some of the other companies we had met with. They actually cared about developing a long-lasting relationship. That’s rare in this space and we appreciate that human connection.”
The decision to overhaul its location’s mismatched systems with Parafait’s complete ecosystem of integrated solutions by Semnox was unanimous. The new POS system will allow synchrony between venues while creating central reporting metrics for the corporate office.
“The Semnox system provided an all-in-one system that brought us all together and incorporated new tools such as online booking/reservations and e-commerce,” explained King. “It creates unification of all technologies and a fair subscription rate that does not gouge expenses is a nice touch in this industry.”
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