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Hi GoTabbers!
A family books a birthday party online weeks ahead and pays the deposit. Then the party shows up, and the cake, the pizza and the pitchers get rung up on a different system. Nobody planned it that way, but plenty of entertainment venues still run that way, and the guests and the staff feel the seams.
In this issue, we’re featuring our new ROLLER integration, which puts a guest’s booking and their food and beverage on one tab, and we hear from Brett Sheridan of ROLLER on why it matters. We’re also spotlighting Patch Retention, which helps GoTab venues turn guest purchase data into follow-up that brings families back, and the new GoTab Custom Reports Marketplace, which gives GoTab customers more ways to tailor the reports in their Manager Dashboard. Plus, the Future of Food Halls early bird ends Nov 30, and we’ll see you at IAAPA. Dig in!
Patricia Mejia, GoTab CMO 🎟️
At a lot of family entertainment centers and attractions, guests book and pay a deposit in one system and settle food and drinks in another. Staff then reconcile two sets of numbers at the end of the night. Our new ROLLER integration closes that gap. ROLLER keeps running the venue experience, including online bookings, capacity, check-in, waivers and deposits, and GoTab runs food and beverage.
Staff pull a ROLLER booking onto a GoTab tab in one tap. Booked items come over with their ROLLER names and prices, booking discounts apply automatically, and payments already made in ROLLER are applied to the tab. When the tab closes, GoTab payments, tips and items added in GoTab are recorded on the ROLLER booking, so ROLLER keeps the guest record.
We sat down with Brett Sheridan of ROLLER on Behind the Tab. Brett has spent decades as an operator, from iFLY indoor skydiving to Luna Park Sydney, and he sees why the integration matters. “This is a deep partnership and the deep partnership means that that two way happens,” he said. He also pointed to reporting: “So when I do a report on the ticket spend versus the restaurant spend, it’s all matched to the guest record.”
It also lines up with where guests are headed. According to ROLLER’s benchmark research, 71% of birthday parties and small groups are now booked online, and Brett said add-on attachment is far greater online than on site.
Overtime Arena in Selden, N.Y., plans to open in December with both platforms. ROLLER will manage bay and cage bookings, and GoTab will power food and beverage across the venue. “We chose ROLLER and GoTab because together they give Overtime Arena the flexibility to create a seamless guest experience across entertainment, simulators, food and beverage, and events.” — Anthony Grassa, Overtime Arena
Patch Retention is the AI-native retention and marketing platform for entertainment venues, attractions and clubs. Our new integration sends identified GoTab guests and their settled purchases into Patch, so you can follow up by SMS and email after the tab closes.
“Our operators already know who is at the table and what they ordered. Patch turns that into the next visit, with no extra work for the team,” said Mateen Habib, GoTab’s Chief Growth Officer.
The integration is available now to any GoTab venue with an active Patch account. Join our webinar with Patch on Dec 9 at 1 p.m. ET to see it in action.
The GoTab Custom Reports Marketplace is now live in the Manager Dashboard, giving customers a way to build the reports that matter most to their business and keep them all in one place.
The GoTab Custom Reports Marketplace is live now for GoTab customers. Find it in the left menu of the Manager Dashboard, or request a demo and we’ll walk you through it.
A network issue may not be a POS problem, but it still lands on your POS experience. The GoTab Managed Network means we install, secure and monitor the network under your POS, so one team owns the fix. Heading into the holidays, that’s one less thing to worry about.
The Future of Food Halls Conference is back March 15-16, 2027 at Rembrandt Yard in Boulder, Colorado. It’s two days with the operators, developers and industry leaders building the next generation of food halls, with opening night at The Golden Mill and a Day Two lunch at Rosetta Hall. Early bird registration is $395 through Nov 30, then $495, so register now to save $100.
We’ll be in ROLLER’s booth, W2201, Nov 17-20 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando. Book a time with us and see the ROLLER and Patch Retention integrations in action.
Thank you for being part of the GoTab community.