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How Self-Ordering Kiosks Improve the Family Entertainment Experience

How Self-Ordering Kiosks Improve the Family Entertainment Experience

In the world of family entertainment, efficiency and convenience are just as important as the attractions themselves. Whether it’s a sprawling arcade, a high-energy bowling alley, or a multi-concept food hall, guests expect seamless service that lets them focus on having fun—not waiting in line.

Self-ordering kiosks are transforming how entertainment venues handle food and beverage sales, creating a smoother, faster, and more engaging experience for guests. By eliminating bottlenecks at concession stands, integrating with gaming systems, and offering personalized ordering options, kiosks are redefining how families interact with hospitality-driven entertainment spaces.

Faster, More Convenient Ordering

Nobody visits a family entertainment center to spend time standing in line. Yet, traditional ordering systems—long waits at a counter, complicated transactions, and staff overwhelmed by peak-hour crowds—often disrupt the guest experience. Self-ordering kiosks eliminate these inefficiencies by allowing guests to place their own orders at their convenience.

With GoTab’s self-ordering kiosk, guests can browse a fully branded digital menu, customize their selections, and complete their transaction without needing to flag down staff. This not only speeds up service but also reduces errors in orders, ensuring families get exactly what they want the first time. More importantly, kiosks free up employees to focus on hospitality rather than transactional tasks, improving service quality across the venue.

Multi-Vendor Ordering for More Choices

Family entertainment venues often have multiple food and beverage concepts operating under one roof, from pizza stations and burger grills to smoothie bars and snack stands. Traditional ordering models require guests to wait in separate lines for each vendor, creating unnecessary friction in the experience.

GoTab’s multi-vendor ordering functionality solves this issue by allowing guests to place orders from multiple locations through a single kiosk transaction. Whether a parent wants to grab a salad from one vendor while their kids order nachos and ice cream from another, everything is streamlined into a single, efficient checkout process. This increases sales by encouraging guests to explore all available dining options while reducing the frustration of juggling multiple orders.

RFID Wristbands and Preloaded Cards for Seamless Spending

Family entertainment centers thrive on creating immersive, hassle-free experiences. One of the most effective ways to enhance convenience is through RFID wristbands and preloaded cards that integrate directly with the self-ordering system.

GoTab’s kiosks support RFID-based payments, allowing guests to preload funds onto a wristband or card that can be used for both gaming and food and beverage purchases. This eliminates the need for guests to carry cash or credit cards throughout the venue and makes it easy for families to set spending limits for their kids. Parents can load a set amount onto a child’s wristband, giving them the freedom to grab a snack or a drink without needing to request cash or a credit card every time. The result is a more fluid, enjoyable experience that keeps guests engaged and spending longer.

A More Profitable, Guest-Centric Model

Beyond the guest experience, self-ordering kiosks drive real business results. Faster service means higher throughput, allowing venues to process more orders with fewer staff. By reducing labor-intensive transactions, operators can reallocate team members to guest engagement roles that enhance service rather than just facilitate transactions.

Additionally, kiosks encourage upselling and add-on purchases in a way that feels natural. GoTab’s intuitive menu design suggests complementary items, prompts guests with enticing upgrades, and highlights high-margin offerings. This subtle yet effective approach leads to higher check averages and increased overall revenue.

Creating the Future of Family Entertainment

The venues that succeed in today’s competitive entertainment landscape are those that prioritize guest experience while maximizing efficiency. Self-ordering kiosks are more than just a convenience—they’re a strategic tool that improves operations, increases revenue, and enhances customer satisfaction.

By integrating branded menus, multi-vendor ordering, and RFID-enabled payments, GoTab’s self-ordering kiosks create a seamless, engaging, and profitable ecosystem for family entertainment venues. The future isn’t just about faster service—it’s about creating an experience where guests can focus on what matters most: enjoying the moment.

Explore GoTab’s Family Entertainment Center POS solutions and request a demo today

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Situated “in the heart of it all, yet tranquil enough to make you feel away from it all too,” The Limelight Hotel Snowmass offers 99 hotel rooms and 11 residences, as well as footsteps-to-gondola access in winter and summer — right in the middle of Snowmass Base Village.

The Situation

Especially over the last few years, the Limelight Hotels IT team had witnessed a significant shift to contactless technology in the hospitality industry. After evaluating friction points in the guest journey, aligning with modern technology platforms in their restaurant was determined to be an effective way to offer elevated contactless dining experiences to their guests while also evolving their technology platforms to continue to support long-term company goals. Limelight Hotel partnered with GoTab to provide an enhanced on-demand dining experience on par with the brand’s reputation for exceptional guest service.

The Solution

Reducing Staff Touch Points Without Sacrificing Guest Experience

Guests are now able to begin a tab from their room or the property’s restaurant by scanning a QR code, texting a link to friends or family members on the ski slope to add in their orders, then meeting up together at the patio or lodge to enjoy their meal and après ski festivities without interruption. By streamlining tasks like inputting orders and processing payments, this eliminates friction for hotel staff and allows them to focus on delivering renowned guest service for a memorable experience. Since partnering with GoTab, Limelight Snowmass has consistently seen higher check averages and sales.

“We found the Point of Sale platforms we were looking at offered the guest and staff limited opportunities to further reduce touch points or improve the traditional restaurant experience. The GoTab platform enabled the guest to take an active role over the flow of their experience while simultaneously reducing touch points and further streamlining restaurant operations.”Nick Giglio, Manager of Hotel IT Operations, The Little Nell Hotel Group

According to the Limelight Hotels team, some of the other platforms that were evaluated were either missing some of the pieces they were looking for, had weak customer support models, or had little willingness to develop integrations to existing hotel platforms already in place. To that end, GoTab integrated with cloud-based platform, Infor. Together, GoTab and Infor are providing dynamic solutions to support central, efficient service across hotel amenities and deliver exceptional guest experiences.

“Previously, guests would call down to the restaurant to begin an order from their room or while they were out enjoying the ski slopes. Using GoTab, guests can now place orders from anywhere on the resort, giving them the on-demand service they want without interrupting their day. GoTab empowers us to give control to the guest, reducing touch points and streamlining overall restaurant operations, making Limelight Hotel the resort of choice for Snowmass.”Nick Giglio, Manager of Hotel IT Operations, The Little Nell Hotel Group

Since introducing GoTab, The Limelight Hotel has seen a consistent level of upsells and items sold per check resulting in additional revenue capture. They have been able to maintain service levels in their restaurants during periods when there was reduced staffing available without significantly diminishing the guest experience.

The Benefits

Eliminate Phone Orders – Take Orders from the Slopes. Guests can start a tab from their room or on the mountain without interrupting the flow of their day.

Future-Proofed Technologies – Delivering elevated contactless ordering via integration with the Infor hotel management platform.

Eliminating Friction in the Guest Journey – Maintaining service levels during periods of reduced staff without diminishing the guest experience.

  • Eliminating Friction in the Guest Journey – Maintaining service levels during periods of reduced staff without diminishing the guest experience.
  • Eliminating Friction in the Guest Journey – Maintaining service levels during periods of reduced staff without diminishing the guest experience.
  • Eliminating Friction in the Guest Journey – Maintaining service levels during periods of reduced staff without diminishing the guest experience.
  • Eliminating Friction in the Guest Journey – Maintaining service levels during periods of reduced staff without diminishing the guest experience.

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