Introduction
In VR clubs, anyone who wants to try themselves as the leading actor in a VR game can get powerful virtual reality headsets. Thanks to full-body tracking – when movements are captured in real-time – everything seems natural, and you can completely immerse yourself in a virtual world with all your senses. Despite the artificial environment, you feel like you're in a real computer game because you're playing the character yourself, which you would otherwise manipulate with a mouse.
VR arcades turn every experience into something unique and are naturally very popular. For this reason, to run such a business, you need special modern software that could automate some routine processes. Please read this article to learn more about it.
The main steps in opening a VR arcade or gallery look just like starting any other startup in the service industry. You familiarize yourself with local requirements for premises, fire safety regulations, and other necessary permits, and choose the appropriate legal form. Then analyze the market and create a business plan, where you describe your future club or gallery in detail and decide on the name and location. You calculate precisely the initial costs. Once you have completed the planning, you start renovating, buying equipment, installing CRM software, hiring staff, and creating advertising. Read more about this in our blog.
The following aspects are fundamental when looking for a location for a VR club: attractiveness and accessibility of the site, traffic routes and parking possibilities, space and area efficiency, possibilities for expansion and, of course, rental conditions
The possibilities of naming are unlimited, but you should choose too-long sentences, unclear expressions, and outdated words under no circumstances. Otherwise, the name of your company will not be memorable. Also, avoid clusters of consonants so that your company name is easily pronounced.
Booking software functionality
Booking software is a solution that combines customer, human resources, and resource management. They offer many functions and can be adapted to the needs of any company.
If you were to give an overview of general functions, the bottom line would be the following list:
Online calendar with access to booking appointments
Calendar synchronization and integrations with other services
Booking widget and link
Automatic notifications: appointment confirmations and reminders
Statistics with customer data
Creation of duty rosters
Resource management
These features are used everywhere in the service sector and significantly improve business performance. But let's take a closer look at the program's benefits for VR clubs.
Game scheduling for VR clubs
What are the specifics of VR-Arcade's work? First and foremost, of course, they concern appointment booking.
Allow group bookings
In an average club, most games are designed for groups of 3 or more, and the maximum number of participants can be up to 15. Scheduling software without this feature is useless for your VR club because the number of people determines the cost, staff workload, and finger food and beverage catering.
Segment customers
Statistics are helpful not only for tracking your progress and setting new goals but also for advertising. Offering coupons and discounts is a key competitive advantage. Customer segmentation and database analysis will help you design individual newsletters and send coupons in time for them to be used.
Avoid scheduling conflicts
As mentioned earlier, the games in the club are designed for multiple people. So, on the one hand, after each successfully organized and executed gaming session, you will get several satisfied customers who will tag your VR club in their social media posts, write a positive review, and tell their friends about it.
On the other hand, if something goes wrong during the manual appointment process, there will be just as many dissatisfied customers. For this reason, minimizing the risk is crucial by leaving the booking function to an automated program and making it as easy as possible for yourself and your customers.
Customize booking widget
A VR club needs a widget with advanced settings and customizable data fields. The club owner needs to enter the available rooms, games, and number of participants. However, the cost usually depends on the day of the week: normal or a weekend rate. If you have VR headsets for rent, this should also be reflected in the widget.
Appointment booking with EasyWeek
As an example of a successful solution, we consider EasyWeek software. The program has all the standard functions for companies in the service industry and special tools useful for VR-Arcades.
The booking widget can be customized to your needs: If you have multiple arcades, you can give your customers the option to book a specific arcade.
If your club has games or VR headsets for rent, you can create a category in the widget with descriptions, prices, and rental terms.
Integrations with maps like Google Maps and other services make online appointment booking available on any platform. At the same time, you can use special booking links generated in the system to keep track of your booking sources. Read more about their advantages in our blog.
All appointments in the calendar can be grouped or highlighted for a better overview. For example, you can mark different halls or games with different colors.
If someone breaks the rules – misses booked appointments, breaks VR headsets, disturbs other people – you can block the person.
When booking appointments, you can also make group bookings available.
You don't have to limit yourself to social media anymore: EasyWeek offers you a free website built like a landing page with many blocks. For example, your club description includes your contact details and opening hours, event spaces, available VR games, and PlayStation VR stations. To get a website, you need to create an account, then enter information about your services, prices, and benefits.
Conclusion
In this article, we have described all the specifics of planning software for VR facilities. We hope our tips will help you find the best possible IT solution for your company. And to give your VR arcade a perfect start on the market, thanks to the free trial version, you can test the full functionality of EasyWeek for 14 days without obligation.
Here you can install the EasyWeek appointment scheduling software already now!
