At IAAPA Expo 2019, Embed, a leading worldwide supplier of point-of-sale and revenue management systems, made waves with the launch of its ground-breaking Mobile Wallet solutions. During the three years that followed, the firm worked hard to support customers both old and new through one of the most challenging periods that the sector has ever experienced. And, as the annual IAAPA event in Orlando returned to full strength this year, it has now revealed yet another piece of transformational technology, designed to help FEC operators thrive.
The latest offering from Embed is STATS, a robust data and reports visualisation platform developed with and powered by Amazon Web Services (AWS). It has been designed to enable FECs to alter visitor experiences, improve operational efficiency, and boost their income using data.
During IAAPA 2022 blooloop spoke to Sara Paz, Embed’s chief marketing officer, at the company’s booth (complete with #BLING bar) to find out more about this new solution, and what it means to the industry.
Making connections
While IAAPA Expo returned to the Orange County Convention Center in 2021, it was this year’s event, with 26% more attendees than the previous year, that truly felt like things were back to normal. Talking about why events like this are so key for the Embed team, as well as touching on some of her personal highlights of this year’s trade show, Paz says:
“It has just been fantastic to see customers that we hadn’t seen during the pandemic and hear how they are recovering.
“During the past year, we have been holding Embed Connect sessions with our customers. These are half-day sessions where we offer training, and we also share our technology roadmap, so they know what’s coming. At the same time, they share with us their business plans and any business challenges that they might be facing, so that we can then think about how we can develop technology for them.”
“Then, when we go to these events, whether it’s IAAPA in Orlando or IAAPA Expo Europe or the DEAL show, the highlights are seeing all our customers in person and hearing their news. Ultimately, it’s all about the relationships.”
The Embed team did a lot of outreach work during the pandemic as part of its COVID-19 relief package, including hosting Embed LIVE sessions and giving away its Mobile Wallet solution for free. However, nothing compares to the face-to-face after so long:
“I’ve loved hearing how everyone is doing this week. I love when I see a customer and they say ‘Hey, just three months after I installed your system, we were up by 65% in our revenue, from seven days a week to four days a week.’
“That is what is incredible for me about these events.”
Introducing STATS by Embed
STATS, Embed’s new technology insights data visualisation dashboard, was well received at IAAPA Expo 2022. Expanding on its development, Paz says:
“During the pandemic, we didn’t slow down. We took that time to accelerate our technological development. As a result of Embed LIVE, which was a series of close to 100 videos, talking with not only partners but also with our customers as well and hearing their challenges, we were able to double down on some conversations with our small to medium business owners and also the large conglomerates, the juggernauts of the industry.”
“We simply asked them, ‘What would help you the most?’ And what we heard repeatedly was that there’s so much information that goes through the Embed system – who plays what game, when they play it, when they’re spending, etc. Their feeling was that they already had 150 reports via our REPORTS product. We already had more reporting than any other player in the industry. But what they wanted was insights.
“Our customers were saying, ‘I want something that gives me deep dynamic visual insights that I can then use to drive my business.’ And we listened.”
A strong partnership
After identifying the need, Embed turned to its technology partner, Amazon, which already supports all its SaaS solutions.
“We have a close working relationship with AWS,” explains Paz. “So, we went to them, and we asked what we could do with all this data that we have access to. We developed it together; we started experimenting with pulling in different metrics from the system, and with help from Amazon, we found that we could do this very deep, rich data visualisation that was also dynamic.
“That means you can look at data graphs from a month ago, three months ago, six months ago, etc. Or you could go all the way down to an hour on any specific day. With all this data stacked up, you have what no one else has in the industry right now, which is a revenue forecasting tool.”
“It’s saying, ‘Hey, listen, if you continue like this, your future is going to look like this. But if you double down on certain promotions, you might be able to double your revenue.’ At the same time, as you’re modifying what your plans are, it’s telling you where your revenue is going to land. And it tells you your manpower needs as well.
“Essentially, it is future forecasting. That is true insight. For the Embed team, it has been a labour of love to work on STATS.”
STATS offers data in a dash
Embed is marketing STATS as ‘data in a dash’. Explaining more about what this means, Paz says:
“We saw a report from the IDC that indicated that anybody that works with data would spend 46% of their time just getting data dumps, manipulating that data to a spreadsheet, and massaging the spreadsheets in hopes of getting a pie chart, or a graph and then double checking if the data was entered correctly. Only once they’d done that work could they look at what insights they could get from that data.
“But the reality is, the small and medium players, they don’t have data teams or data analytics teams. It’s usually the FEC owner who runs the operation.”
“With STATS, they can get these insights straight away, to their PC, their iPad, or their mobile phone, anytime, anywhere. That is going to strengthen their ability to run their business in a way in which they feel like they’re making data-based, metric-informed decisions moving forward.”
The demand on the show floor for a demonstration of STATS proved so high that Paz says the Embed team ended up converting some of its different demo stands on the booth to STATS, in order to accommodate the number of people who were coming to see it in action.
“What was wonderful was that Amazon called up some of its team members in Boston and the West Coast and sent them out to help us launch this and demo it at IAAPA. One person even came out from their Singapore office to talk to our customers from Asia and EMEA.”
Reliable tech underpins STATS
As well as the support from the AWS team, the Amazon technology itself that underpins STATS is crucial, adds Paz:
“Being reliable in this industry is so important. If an FEC system goes down, they can’t run their games, they can’t get reports. Operators say to us, they don’t want to be in that position because it impacts revenue. We can reassure them that with Amazon Web Services, you will never be down. It isn’t like a storm can wipe out a server in the Midwest, their data centres are so secure; the backup has a backup, it’s all in the cloud.”
Coming back to the IDC report that she referenced earlier, Paz talks about how this showed that 30% of employees who do data work say they spend too much time in data preparation. 44% say time is wasted on unsuccessful data activities. Plus, 25% of staff who do data work, find analytics tools too complicated.
“That was a real driving force for us. Taking findings from that IDC report and the feedback from our customers on what they needed, plus adding the right technology, will strengthen the industry and enable FECs to move more rapidly. If your data is dynamic, then your decisions can be dynamic, and you can pivot faster.”
A no-brainer
So far, the reception for STATS from Embed customers has been overwhelmingly positive:
“For existing customers, it was a no-brainer,” says Paz. “One of the first demos that we gave was to an existing customer who runs 17 locations. He signed up immediately. Anyone we showed it to who’s currently using REPORTS signed up for it as well.
“And then there were new customers, who came to the booth and wanted to look at our whole system. When we showed them STATS, that was the turning point for them. Because it’s Amazon, it’s one of the most trusted and respected technology brands in the world.”
Transformative technology
Speaking about the whole Embed system, TOOLKIT, Paz identified some case studies where the company’s technology has revolutionised operations.
“One of my favourites from the last year was Game Over Arcade. This is a single family-owned FEC run by Chris and Jennifer Donner. They have the best games and have always invested in games, but they were based on quarters. They found that having people walking around with buckets of quarters and having to count out $7 for an advanced game was a barrier to entry. So, they decided to use the Embed system.”
“They said to us that they had got quotes from other providers, but they saw that some of the very large players trust Embed, so they decided to trust us too. And of course, the whole team here knew that we were not going to let them down.
“What I love about the Donners is when they contacted us afterwards, their one big complaint about Embed was that we should have pushed them harder to make the conversion sooner because they went from seven days a week to four days a week, and saw a 65% increase in revenue from their best time period ever, a mere three months after installing Embed.
“When we saw them here at IAAPA, they said that typically November is a slower period where, on a Saturday, they would bring in $1,200. But the Saturday before IAAPA they brought in $10,000. From a revenue perspective, you can imagine how excited we are for them because that is a transformative change.”
Part of the Embed family
As well as small and medium FECs, Embed also works with some of the biggest names in the sector. For example, Dave and Busters in North America, MAF in EMEA and Teeg in Asia.
“With the big players, usually it’s an entire technology team that we sit down with. Much of our development road mapping happens with them. They will say ‘Hey, listen, let’s experiment, let’s try to do something together.’ Because they have so many venues that they have to manage, and we love facing those challenges with them and finding solutions.
“Then with the midsize players, operators with two or three locations, what we love about them is we show them that they don’t have to run from venue to venue anymore. With Embed, everything they need is on a tablet, anytime, anywhere, because it’s all powered by Amazon Web Services. Those are the customers that we can help grow and expand. Our success stories show how when they grow, we grow. When the customer thrives, we thrive.”
One example of this is APEX Entertainment:
“We started with them when they had one venue. And then they’re now at four venues, every year they were opening a new one! All these customers are different and unique, yet their business challenges are often parallel and similar. We’re able to provide them with a business solution that meets their needs.
“I also love talking about Pizza Ranch. Their growth has been unbelievable. They have so many locations, it’s a franchisee model. What’s lovely about them is that the game room is not their core business, but they were still able to find that the Embed solution was transformative for driving incremental revenue.”
One thing that is clear from talking to the Embed team is that they take these case studies personally; they are truly invested in the success of their customers.
“I think it is because we’re such a familial company. Everyone is treated like family.”
Embed’s STATS powers the FEC of the future
Embed’s vision has always been to transform the industry of fun, and despite the two big innovations that it has brought in over the last three years, Mobile Wallet and STATS, it shows no signs of resting on its laurels just yet.
“Something that we started talking about in 2019 was the FEC of the future,” says Paz. “We have always been looking at how do we transform this industry, so that it grows faster and becomes bigger and better, and so that it is easier to manage these businesses. We believe that technology and the creative application of technology will enable that.”
Paz herself comes from a high-tech background, having held positions at companies like Intel, HTC, Nokia and Dell. “During my career, I’ve been able to see how technology transforms not only an individual but businesses and industries. So, we are going to continue trailblazing and developing solutions for the industry. Because we know that this technology is truly transformative.
“For instance, the Mobile Wallet is already transforming FECs. Operators have come forward and told us that people are topping up with greater sums of money. And, because they’re not leaving the game, we’re seeing that revenue is going up at a faster curve.
“When we look at the FEC of the future, we see robotics, we see artificial intelligence, we see mixed reality coming into play, and through all of it, there needs to be a smooth consumer journey that is optimised by all the tech. It’s about the immediacy of service and game immersion; no one goes into an FEC to stand in line and wait. For example, if they want F&B, they can order via their Mobile and get the F&B delivered to the game, right there and then. There’s no standing in line.
“We want to remove all barriers so they can arrive and immerse themselves in fun.”
