Gift cards, session packs, memberships and a discount code are four ways of saying come back. VenueChief’s gift card and membership software for entertainment venues sells and applies all four at one checkout.
Gift card and membership software for entertainment venues, in one basket
Gift cards sell in November and December. Memberships build your regulars in January. A discount code fills a quiet Tuesday. Many venues stitch these together from separate tools, and none of them know about each other.
Gift card and membership software for entertainment venues should treat them as one thing: value the guest holds and spends at your checkout. That is how VenueChief handles them.
What is new: four ways to sell the next visit
Digital gift cards. Guests buy a card in your shop, choose an amount, add a message and send it to the recipient, who gets it by email. Preset amounts, the minimum, the maximum and a daily limit per buyer are policy settings you control. Staff can also issue digital or physical cards, and set an expiry date on a card they issue. Every card keeps a balance ledger, and expired balances are handled for you.
Prepaid passes. Define a pass for heats, sim minutes or resource minutes. Set the quantity, the price, a member price, an expiry (none, a number of days or a fixed date) and the maximum a customer can hold. Guests buy passes in the shop, and at checkout their pass is pre-selected, with a card always offered as the alternative. Staff can sell or redeem a pass from the booking editor. If a guest cancels inside your free window, the pass credit goes back.
Memberships. A plan has a price and benefits that the server applies: member pricing, a percent or fixed discount, included credits each period, guest passes and a money credit. Members see their plan in My Account and can cancel it there. Term and renewal dates are not enforced today.
Promo codes. Percent or fixed. Set a maximum discount, a minimum order, valid dates, total uses, uses per customer, a guest range and first-time guests only. Codes can apply to bookings, the shop or both.
Book a demo and we will set up a gift card and a ten-visit pass live.
How it feels at the checkout
The guest builds one basket: a heat, a hoodie and a gift card. At the cart they can enter a promo code and see the saving before they pay. If a gift card has a balance, it covers what it can and the card pays the rest. If they have a pass that fits, it is pre-selected. A membership offer appears at the cart only if it lowers today’s total, so it is not a sales pitch that costs the guest money.
Gift cards are redeemed at online checkout, at the kiosk and at the desk. Everything lands in the same order and the same daily close, with gift card sales and redemptions tracked in the gift card liability line.
Setting it up
- Create a gift card with preset amounts and the limits you want.
- Define one pass, such as a ten-heat pass, with a member price and an expiry.
- Add a membership plan with the benefits you want to promise.
- Create a first-time promo code for new guests.
- Open the cart as a guest and watch each offer appear.
Each step is a form, and gift card and membership software for entertainment venues should feel that way.
Who it suits
Sim racing centers and karting tracks selling heat packs and memberships, golf simulator lounges selling hour packs, batting cages selling monthly and seasonal memberships, escape rooms and axe throwing venues selling gift cards and gift certificates for birthdays. The words differ, but the mechanics are the same.
What it changes on a busy day
- A gift card bought at midnight reaches the recipient’s inbox with nobody on staff.
- A regular’s member price shows on the basket without staff keying a discount.
- A first-time code is refused for a returning guest without an argument.
Availability and fine print
Gift cards, passes, memberships and the simple online shop that sells them are included in the Booking plan and above. Selling physical merchandise, such as the hoodie in the example, needs the Retail Storefront add-on on the Platform plan. Promo codes are on every plan. See pricing.
Membership benefits are applied when a member books or buys. A membership bought online has no end or renewal date, and VenueChief does not re-charge a member’s card. A card that staff issue at the desk is a record of the card, not of a payment. Some plan options, such as members-only access, are options in the editor that are not enforced today, so check the benefit list before you promise a member something.