expERIEnce Children's Museum is a non-traditional education facility in Erie, Pennsylvania, focused on teaching children aged 0-11 the principles of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) through interactive exhibits and activities. 

I'm so thrilled with ROLLER, and I would recommend it to anybody.

Kristina Leiter

Director of Member and Visitor Experiences

The journey to ROLLER 

Faced with the limitations of their existing point of sale system and with an $18 million facility expansion in the works, Kristina Leiter, Director of Member and Visitor Experiences, and Julie Boam, Director of Operations, decided to switch to ROLLER to meet the museum's evolving needs. “We went to IAAPA for the first time and filled our calendars with trials of all the different platforms. We narrowed it down to around half a dozen that we requested RFPs [Request for Proposals] for,” says Kristina. 

Kristina and Julie were clear on their requirements - a system that could manage birthday parties, memberships, digital gift cards, and, most importantly, help them introduce online bookings for admissions and parties. “We previously only did memberships online, but our POS was not connected to our website, so I would have to manually transfer memberships into the POS,” says Kristina. At one point, after running a membership promotion, they had to manually enter 1,500 memberships into the POS system, which took them six weeks. “By the time we were done, we knew how important it was to manage everything digitally,” says Julie. 

Kristina echoes this sentiment: “We really wanted to push everything through our website because we were tired of trying to do it in person. The more we could get done online, the easier it would be for everybody.” ROLLER’s simple, intuitive interface stood out immediately. “We were looking for a simpler system. We needed something that would do what we needed it to do and would do it well. And a system that we could easily train our staff on and it not be overly complex. We immediately loved ROLLER - we were like, wow, that’s amazing!” says Kristina. 

ROLLER’s responsive 24/7 global support and onboarding training sealed the deal. “The fact that support was good sold us,” says Julie. “Every time I’ve reached out, even when it’s not urgent, I hear back on the same day,” says Kristina. “And the initial training was fantastic, better than anything we’ve looked at.”

Read more: How ROLLER Analytics Helps Venues Grow Memberships

Managing up to 700 daily visitors

A critical challenge for the expERIEnce Children's Museum was managing visitor capacity effectively to ensure a high-quality guest experience. ROLLER’s timed ticketing and automated capacity management have been instrumental in managing the flow of visitors during peak periods. “It was very helpful when I could introduce timed visits. We required everyone to pre-buy their tickets to help us monitor capacity.” This feature enabled the museum to spread out visitor arrivals, reducing overcrowding. "We could never handle the crush of people from opening to closing, so now we can space visitors out," adds Julie. 

Saving one hour for every party booking

Birthday party bookings have gone really well. It's a huge time saver.

Kristina Leiter

Director of Member and Visitor Experiences

ROLLER has dramatically streamlined birthday party bookings. Before switching to ROLLER, Kristina spent hours on the phone each week coordinating bookings, playing phone tag with guests, and chasing payments. The booking process is now automated, leading to significant time savings and operational efficiency. "Birthday party bookings have gone really well. It's a huge time saver," remarked Kristina. Kristina is saving up to an hour per party now that she doesn’t have to book parties manually. With around seven parties per week, that’s seven extra hours back in her day each week, or 28 hours each month!

One of the standout improvements in the party booking process was the ability to secure full payments for party bookings in advance. “Previously, guests would pay the day of their party, and sometimes they would leave without paying, and then I had to track them down,” says Kristina. This approach simplified the payment process and minimized the risk of revenue loss previously encountered when payments were delayed or missed. By automating bookings and facilitating advance payments through ROLLER, the museum has improved its financial management for events while making party planning stress-free for guests.

Cutting membership card costs by $1,300

The introduction of ROLLER significantly improved the museum's membership management. The transition to online membership cards was a key milestone, reducing costs associated with physical cards and providing guests with a more convenient digital experience. Kristina praised the digital transition, "We're phasing out physical cards... Most museums here now are going digital." 

ROLLER has helped the museum efficiently scale its membership program, seamlessly integrating membership sales into the online checkout. As a result, they’ve seen 1,300 new memberships in the six months since ROLLER's implementation. In December last year alone, they sold 300 memberships - the most they have ever sold in the month of December. Plus, with a unit cost of roughly $1 per membership card, that’s a saving of $1,300 just in card manufacturing fees alone!

$60,000 in gift card and membership revenue in a single month

The introduction of online gift cards through ROLLER has enabled easy purchasing and redemption of gift cards, contributing to a notable increase in sales. "The return on investment for gift cards has been phenomenal. We sold $30,000 in gift cards in December last year. We've probably never even sold that in a year, let alone a month," says Kristina. Offering gift cards around the holidays has provided a flexible gifting option for visitors, enhancing their engagement with the museum. Combined with the revenue from their 300 new members in December, they made $60,000 in gift card and membership sales! 

The return on investment for gift cards has been phenomenal. We sold $30,000 in gift cards in December last year. We've probably never even sold that in a year, let alone a month.

Kristina Leiter

Director of Member and Visitor Experiences

Given the revenue and operational efficiency benefits they’ve seen at the museum, Julie and Kristina would encourage other attraction businesses to make the switch. “I'm so thrilled with it, and I would recommend it to anybody,” says Kristina. Looking forward, the expERIEnce Children's Museum will continue to progress with its facility expansion project with the support of ROLLER, expanding its footprint and offering a broader range of exhibits to provide enriching experiences for guests.

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