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Games Media, which supplies entertainment technology to British pubs, says more than 50 percent of its estate now pays out prizes in the form of tickets rather than coins.
The Scientific Games subsidiary has found that since deployment of the ticketing systems on video AWP and SWP games began a year ago, some sites have seen their machine income boosted by as much as 35 percent.
Tickets also eliminate the need to refill machines with change, and reduce security risks.
“Refilling has been a longstanding problem with gaming machines in pub retail venues, but since the introduction of £70 jackpots last year things have gotten much worse,” said Games Media’s operations director Ian Shreeve.
“Without a strict routine for regular refilling, licensees are running the risk of coin hopper starvation, where their machines stop accepting notes because they can’t fulfil prize payouts. When this happens it’s clearly a wasted opportunity for generating income,” added Shreeve.
“It leads to customers walking away thinking the machine is faulty when that’s not the case – a negative experience for them and one that has a direct impact on the pub,” he commented.
The tickets can also be used as promotional tools, for example by printing pubspecific discount offers or information on special events alongside the details of the player's prize.
Said Shreeve: “Licensees recognise it enables much more than just prize delivery and it becomes an integral part of their marketing strategy, which is something a traditional coin-paying machine cannot deliver.”
User Steve Moore, manager of Bar Sport in Walsall, agreed: “We have the chance to interact with our machine players when they come to the bar to cash in their tickets.
It gives our staff an ideal opportunity to get to know them and develop a stronger customer relationship. In addition, it’s a perfect opportunity to recommend games and to inform customers of upcoming releases as well as a great way to get valuable feedback on the machines themselves, which we probably wouldn’t otherwise get.”
