UDC’s Redemption Revolution
There’s been a quiet revolution, both at The United Distributing Company and in FEC’s across the UK in general.
The seeds of this revolution preceded the sea-change legislation of September 2007. This legislation buffeted operators across the nation with the twin-tidal waves of the smoking ban and the demise of the Section 16 machines and the increased competition from Licensed Betting Shops put the squeeze on traditional amusement arcades and single site operators. Many are now turning to redemption as an answer.
Plans had been afoot at UDC for over a year, ever since Michael Green joined the company as Sales Director, to transform UDC from a company that distributed a few new lines, but dealt primarily with refurbished equipment, such as video games pinball tables, AWP and Club machines to one where a range of new equipment would push the company forward into the future. The UDC team elaborate further for us.
Mark Horwood, Managing Director sets the scene, “We were noticing the changes in the market place and kept a keen eye on what products were coming through on an International level. Redemption has traditionally been strong in the USA and Asia, but only a handful of operators in the UK felt comfortable giving it a go, as very few operators had a real history of being very successful with it at that time”.
Derek Horwood, UDC Chairman, remarks “It’s no accident that we targeted this market. We foresaw the slump in the AWP and Club machine markets with it’s increased competition from betting shops and Casinos and the smoking ban harshly affecting pub machine income. It’s taken quite a few years to get to the position that were in now with a strong range of family games from many major manufacturers, to where people are happy to come back year on year for the latest model because they now know just how well the games perform. We took many small steps along the way to get where we are now.”
According to UDC those operators who took their advice and invested in redemption games for 2007 and 2008 saw higher income, increased customer retention and loyalty with repeat visits and longer stays. When a customer was recently asked ‘if they were happy with UDC’s advice to invest in redemption?’ one answered ‘No! I’m over the moon with it’.
“The secret to success with redemption is to aim for what we simply call the ‘3 F’s’ Family Friendly Fun” adds Michael Green, and he should know as he’s been at both ends of the spectrum, as an operator and as a salesman. “Nowadays, the public are more discerning about where they spend their money and what they spend it on. The old image of a smokey arcade filled with one-armed bandits is history. Those who are really succeeding are presenting an environment where mum and dad can take the kids and join in with the fun. With redemption, cranes and prize machines families get to take home some prizes, so they’ve got something more to show for the money they’ve spent that visit.” This recipe has proven very successful at seaside and larger FEC locations with smaller sites appearing to be increasingly happy to try and emulate their success.
Some products shine through especially brightly for Mark, “Benchmark Games ‘Slam-A-Winner’ has been a phenomenon. I’d compare it to the ‘Bar X’ of the fruit machine world, every arcade needs at least one, we know of locations with three or more, not forgetting the giant ‘X-Treme’ model. Also, our range of ‘Fortune’ games such as the ‘Football Fortune’ which we’re bringing back again this year just keeps on going strong.”
Mark continues “We offer a complete one stop shop for the amusement operator looking to invest in redemption, starting with the ‘Ticket Station’ from Benchmark Games offers a great compact ticket eating solution, that is easily upgradable, brandable and is able to read standard and bar-coded tickets so that you’re not giving out prizes for your competitors tickets. Ticket security is going to become a bigger issue as redemption grows. We sell stock tickets as well as bespoke redemption tickets, made to the clients specification, with or without a secure bar-code. And now, our latest development is going to be a choice of a ‘stock bar-code’ ticket for customers with the Ticket Station so that they won’t have to order millions and millions of tickets to try out the concept.”
For those reluctant to take up redemption, or seemingly unable to due to their size, UDC continues to grow it’s range of cranes, pushers and prize novelty games. Cranes especially are performing well in the current climate, as the offer something immediate and have an instant visual appeal at a low cost with a great return on investment. They come in all shapes and sizes from the compact Candy Crane right through to the huge Jungle Party for larger plush. “We’ve got an amazing new machine that works like a crane, but is designed to look like a little yellow spaceship with a cute green alien inside. It’s a ‘vacuum grabber’ and it’s called Snork! Kids absolutely love it. It’s just back off of test and the income was very impressive. We’re showing it in the UK for the first time at the ATEI and I’d recommend that everyone should see it” says industry veteran Dave Columbine who joined the UDC team in late 2008.
In closing Mark tells us “Let’s not loose sight of the fact that every location needs the right mix of games. A hundred percent redemption isn’t the answer for most locations, neither is a hundred percent cranes, or slots. But I am certain balanced approach including a good selection of the right redemption games in a family oriented atmosphere is a recipe for greater success than for those without. That’s why we still select the best video, air hockey and novelty games we can from around the world.”
The team at UDC will be on stand 2100 at the ATEI and they strongly recommend that you visit them so that they can share their vision of ‘The Redemption Revolution’ with you. Also see the company website at www.udc.co.uk
