Laughing Ducks is a soft-play center in Coldstream, Scotland, employing ten staff members and entertaining approximately 2,000 guests per month. Owners Anna and Jon Standing created Laughing Ducks to provide active entertainment, inspired by their son when he was a toddler. Today, Laughing Ducks offers play structures, birthday parties for children, a cafe, and a sensory room.
Laughing Ducks opened in February 2020, immediately before the pandemic's start, forcing them to shut their doors just after opening. Upon reopening, they began using a point-of-sale solution that didn’t meet their expectations and led to guest complaints, resulting in a switch to BookNow.
Unfortunately, Laughing Ducks found various challenges in utilizing BookNow to support their business after implementation. This presented challenges that prompted them to look for another provider. After speaking to a friend in the industry, they decided to make the switch and found ROLLER more appropriately fit their needs.
Ease of implementation
Upon implementing ROLLER, Anna and Jon set up their entire product and package lineup in under 12 hours, compared to the 36 hours under their previous system, without any technical knowledge. During the onboarding process, having all the videos recorded was immensely helpful because they could go back and review them when/if needed.
And when the day came that ROLLER was to go live at their venue, Anna and Jon were so relieved that everything went off without a hitch, and there were absolutely no issues!
ROLLER offers various services to make onboarding the program as seamless as possible. ROLLER provides a video library covering all critical functions and professional services, including implementation and ongoing consultation on the best ways to use the system.
For venues new to ROLLER and want the most personalized onboarding experience, operators can work directly with ROLLER’s professional services team members to set up the venue, plan for the launch, and train the operations team on the platform. More thorough services are also available for those needing consultation on setting up integrations, data segmentation, and using ROLLER for email marketing.
Ease of use
Anna and Jon said that the staff at Laughing Ducks appreciate the user experience of ROLLER, as it is intuitive and efficient to use.
They love the ease with which they can update inventory for retail items, cash out registers at the end of the day, and report all from one system.
“When the team can do things easily and quickly, it takes the pressure off,” said Anna and Jon.
Increased Revenue
Laughing Ducks have also enjoyed increased revenue thanks to ROLLER, mainly due to increased operational efficiency.
Laughing Ducks have two entry lines: one for pre-booked guests and one for walk-ins. Guests booked in advance can be scanned in and verify their waivers more quickly than walk-ins. But because of this efficient system, walk-ins can also enter the venue faster.
So, more guests can partake in the venue's offerings than before Laughing Ducks were using ROLLER systems due to the streamlined entry process and modern online booking system.
And it goes without saying: more guests = increased revenue in all areas (tickets, merchandise, F&B, etc.).
The future is bright
When asked if they would recommend ROLLER, Anna and Jon said yes without hesitation.
“Running a business is hard enough without having systems that fail you. When you have a system that works, it makes life a little bit easier.”
They have ambitious plans to open more centers over time, expand their offerings, and continue to host seasonal events, and ROLLER is so excited to be on the journey with them.
To learn more about how ROLLER can help you improve your business, guest experience, and employee experience, click here to schedule a demo today.
