Category Archives: Technology

Author Whitney Larson Posted on

Complying with FDA Tobacco 21

On December 20, 2019, the President signed legislation to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, and raise the federal minimum age of tobacco from 18 to 21 years. The FDA was quick to enforce the regulation, prompts posting on its website that it is now illegal for a retailer to sell any tobacco product to anyone under 21 effective immediately.

What this means if you’re in the position of selling tobacco products:

    1. It is now illegal for a retailer to sell any tobacco product to anyone under 21. This includes cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, hookah tobacco, pipe tobacco, and e-cigarettes and other electronic nicotine delivery systems (including vaping products).
    2. T21 applies to all retail establishments and persons with no exceptions.
    3. It is recommended to check the photo ID of everyone under the age of 30 who attempts to purchase any tobacco product

While the FDA recently updated its website stating that “…both the agency and some retailers will need to update current practices to implement this new law as FDA will need time to do outreach and education to retailers and update the agency’s programmatic work to reflect this change in law,” it is not clear how long of a transition period will be allowed. The FDA expects retailers to follow the law and take measures to ensure an individual purchasing a tobacco product is 21 or older.

We at Vēmos believe that every retailer should be in the clear and doesn’t need to spend their time worrying about whether or not they are complying within this grace period. That’s why we’re offering our mobile ID Scan app at just $35/month. It’s the fastest and easiest way to make sure you’re always following regulations so you don’t get caught in a compliance check.

Here’s how it works:

    2. Scan the barcode on the back of the ID, and be immediately alerted if someone is underage. You’ll have visual cues along with audible beeps as indicators. You’ll also be alerted if the ID is expired or invalid.
    3. Scan the next guest’s ID.

It’s that easy. You’ll be set up within minutes, will verify a customer’s age within seconds, and have a log of all your scans should you ever need to prove your compliance. Get started now.

Author Whitney Larson Posted on

Your NYE Checklist

If you haven’t yet, set up your event in your Vēmos dashboard and start selling tickets. Some NYE parties have already sold out of their tier 1 early bird tickets and are on to tier 2. This is a great way to add urgency, pre-sell your event out early, and get more revenue per guest as the event nears. Read this article for more tips on how to prepare ahead of time.

To have a successful NYE night using Vēmos

☑ Download the Vēmos app on either iOS or Android devices.

☑ Easily scan tickets from the guestlist view of the app by tapping on the “Scan” icon in guestlist view. You can also type the code under the QR code while in scan mode or search the guest’s name to mark them as arrived.

☑ Sell tickets directly through the app for walk-up/door sales to keep your data in one place.

☑ Use multiple lines to streamline your door: one for pre-purchased tickets and one for walk-up tickets/door sales. Your primary speed should be focused on pre-purchased tickets to show the incentive of buying tickets in advance.

☑ Check your internet connectivity to make sure you can flawlessly run the app on your device. If you have weak internet, use devices that have data plans or get a personal hotpsot to keep at your check in area.

Set up Your New Year’s Eve Event in your dashboard now, or click here to get started with Vēmos.

The official Vemos blog
Author Whitney Larson Posted on

The Best NYE Ticketing System for Nightclubs

Ticketing companies are a dime a dozen. And with all the choices at your disposal, how do you know which one to go with? The best thing you can do is to choose a system that will set your entire New Year’s Eve event up for success. After all, it’s your biggest event of the year.

Here are the top 5 things you need in your ticketing system.

1. Go Beyond Registration

Most ticketing companies are simply a registration system. They allow people to buy a ticket for your event, and then their offerings end there. They don’t help you connect the dots of what brought your customer to buy a ticket, what they did once they got into your event, and how you can retarget that customer in the future.

Instead, use a ticket system like Vēmos that goes beyond registration. This means following your customer’s journey before, during, and after they walk through your door, and having the tools at your disposal to also manage your event operations.

2. Don’t Redirect Your Customers

A customer comes to your website to buy a ticket. They click that “buy” button and are now redirected to the ticketing company’s website. You’ve now lost that customer’s data, your brand is out of sight, and they’re now getting messages to register for competing events on your ticket buying page. Does this sound like the right experience to you?

Stop redirecting your customers to a different company. Use a ticketing system that functions on your own website without their branding being present. That way, your customers will always feel like they’re purchasing directly from you, and you get to fully control the experience.

3. Connect Your Accounts

You have more to manage for your event than selling tickets. A lot of New Year’s Eve parties have VIP reservations that also need to be managed and marketing systems to promote your efforts. This typically means you’re managing separate tools and systems for each of these functions. Not only is that a hassle, but your’e losing out on data and duplicating information.

We allow you to connect all your accounts together in one dashboard. So not only are you selling tickets to your event, but you can handle all other areas in this one system. Information flows seamlessly between your services automatically so you never have to re-enter or duplicate information in each account.

4. Collect Money Right Away

Most ticketing sites hold your money until after the event to cut you a check, which means your revenue is held up while your expenses continue. Make sure your ticketing provider works with you and your bank account so payments go directly into your account as soon as a transaction is made. This way, you earn your revenue leading up to your event rather than making up for your expenses weeks after.

5. Own Your Data

When your guests are redirected to third-party sites, and when your event information lies in multiple accounts, you’re unable to track all your data. In fact, you don’t actually own that data. Technically, the ticketing provider owns it and they’re going to use it to target your customers for competing events.

Put the power back in your hands. Use a ticketing provider that’s not profiting off your customers, but instead exists to serve you. This way, you’ll collect key information on your customers, staff, and event as a whole to understand what worked and what didn’t for future success.

Have the most profitable New Year’s Eve ever with Vēmos and experience these 5 benefits. You get all the perks of major ticketing solutions with the functionality of nightclub management software in one dashboard. Sell out your New Year’s Eve event in advance. Get money in your bank right away. And have a stress-free door. All at no cost. Get started now.

Author Whitney Larson Posted on

Top Tools to Help You Navigate the Personalization Shift

Your customers have gotten accustomed to the savviness of online businesses sending recommendations based on past habits and reminders based on timing. It’s personal. It’s experience-driven. And now they’re driving that change within nightlife. They expect personalized service, and are making decisions on where to go because of it.

Now it’s your turn to navigate this shift and provide the personalized experience they have come to expect. But how do you do it? The best thing you can do is find a system that encompasses all areas of your operations into one dashboard. This is what allows you to see transparent data across sections as well as get deep insight on all your guests. When you use separate tools for each area (ex: one system for reservations, another for tickets, another for gueslist, etc), you’re only getting a chunk of the picture. Data lives separately and you only see information on some of your guests, not all of them. And that makes all the difference when keeping up with this personalization shift.

Here are a few core tools you’ll need to set yourself up for success, followed by recommendations on how to get your staff to execute.

1. Guest Database

A survey conducted by Accenture discovered that 85% of their participants are willing to provide their information to trusted retailers in exchange for targeted, personalized information. Use this to your advantage. Your customers are not only willing to give their information to you, but they’re conditioned to do so. This is especially true when pre-purchasing items online. There are systems specifically for the nightlife industry that are built with your guest database at the core. Now, you can use guest list, ticketing, or reservation forms on your site so your guests not only begin to buy in advance (note: more guaranteed revenue), but also so that you can collect their information and have it sync back to their profile in your database.

You can also capture this information during your night at your door using a digital ID Scanning system. That way, you’re able to safeguard your venue by having a tool to help check IDs as well as collect data on every customer that walks through your doors. And when you connect this to your point of sale system, you’re able to unearth even more valuable information. This means you have a database of all your guests, including their name, contact info, how many times they’ve been to your venue, whether they’re a VIP/guest list/event/general admission customer, how much money they’ve spent, and what their most popular drink purchases are.

2. Segmented Marketing

With your database, you now have a complete buyer persona for all your target customer segments, including demographic, geographic, and psychographic information. This means you have the opportunity to get personal with your marketing. You can send a specific message catered to a specific group of people, such as sending a birthday text message to anyone celebrating a birthday this week and inviting them to celebrate with you. Or you can target customers who have attended a certain event in the past, and send them an exclusive invitation to an upcoming similar event before tickets are released to the public. Making your customers feel like you know what’s happening in their life, or like you understand their interests, is what makes your messages personal and powerful. They’ll feel like insiders and will naturally establish a deeper connecting with your venue. This also helps to make sure the time and money you’re spending on your marketing is spent wisely and giving you a return on investment.

3. Staff Execution

Your personalization shouldn’t stop at marketing. You can and should keep this experience going the second your customer gets to your door. That’s where staff execution comes into play. Remember, technology is a tool to help your staff raise the level of their service; it doesn’t replace your staff’s efforts. Make sure you train your staff on your system so everyone is using it correctly and know what cues to use to raise their level of personalization. Greet your guests by name when they arrive. If you see that a customer is a regular general admission customer who comes to your venue every week, upsell them to a VIP table and provide a complimentary bottle of champagne as a thank you. Or, offer them their first round of their favorite drink on the house at the bar. This costs you very little, but means a lot to them. It’s a simple gesture that’s perceived by the guest as a premium, highly personalized level of service. It shows that person how much they are valued and entices them to stay longer, spend more, bring more friends, and come back more often.

Treating guests like the individuals they are and catering your experience to their needs isn’t hard. All it takes is a system that captures all your information in one place, your staff to use that system so it automatically pulls necessary information on the guests walking through your door, and your ability to execute on providing that exclusive experience. It’s the little things that make the biggest difference to your guests and brings the biggest dollar to you.With all of this at play, you’re able to spend smarter, target sharper, and create an unbelievable experience for every person walking through your door.

Author Whitney Larson Posted on

4 Reasons Data is Your Venue’s MVP

We talk a lot about mixology, music, lights and ambiance in this industry. After all, this is the recipe for your party. And while all of them are important to running your venue, there’s one component that stands out as the true MVP to your entire business’ success: data.

While your party is what brings people into your venue, your data is what allows you to build ongoing success. It’s what enables you to put on more successful parties, to continue driving the right people through your door, and to boost your revenue up based on that combination.

Here’s how you can turn the data that already exists to become your most valuable player.

1. Collect information about your guests

Today’s Reality: Nearly every nightclub and bar has an estimate of how many guests walked through their door on a given night. What they don’t know is who walked through their door. They get people in, serve them, and let them walk away without knowing anything about them.

Data’s Fix: Put tools in place to track what you’re already doing. Instead of checking IDs manually, use an ID Scanner to collect important guest information (hint: you can use this to drive loyalty). Turn your paper guestlist into a digital one to collect guest contact information along with data on what time they checked in, who they checked in with, what brought them there, and any promos they used. Use a system to collect insight on your general admission walk-ins, VIP reservations, and those who bought tickets to your event. Better yet – make sure all of these areas connect into one account so you get the whole picture in one dashboard. And when you connect this system to your POS, you’re able to unearth even more valuable information.

MVP Status: Now you have a database of all your guests, including their name, contact information, how many times they’ve been to your venue, whether they’re a VIP/guest list/event/general admission customer, how much money they’ve spent, and what their most popular drink purchases are. This means you’re now able to better identify your guests, upsell them before they walk through your doors (hint: more $), and provide personalized service (so they spend more $).

2. Increase marketing results

Today’s Reality: Venues end up spending marketing dollars on mass marketing efforts (or sometimes no marketing at all), blasting vague messages to a broad range of people who may or may not be their customers. All because they don’t know who their customers are.

Data’s Fix: With the right system, you can have a complete buyer persona for all of your target customer segments, including demographic, geographic, and psychographic information. Use this to your advantage. As an example, you can segment your audience into a list of females who attend your venue on Friday nights and spend at least $100. You can then send a text message to this list with a message that’s 100% relevant to them. And that’s powerful marketing.

MVP Status: You’re no longer wasting marketing dollars on efforts that don’t convert. Instead, you’re able to drive your most loyal customers back into your venue with personal messaging, you’re able to establish a healthy mix of male and female customers, and you’re able to drive customers who haven’t visited in a while back through your doors. Better marketing results in better guests which results in bigger spending.

3. Improve Operations

Today’s Reality: Nightclubs go into each night without an accurate idea of what the night will hold. And when you don’t know how many guests will arrive for a night, it’s hard to plan and staff accordingly. VIP tables get double booked, the door gets bottlenecked, and staff aren’t communicating to solve the issues. Your guests notice this, and it hinders their experience before they even walk in your door.

Data’s Fix: Systems improve operations, provide metrics, and instill accountability. When you use a single system to sell tickets, manage VIP tables, manage your guest list, and handle general admission walk-ups, you’re able to know how many guests you can expect to arrive. This then helps you staff accordingly and plan out VIP tables. It also helps to streamline your door and optimize your lines.

MVP Status: Putting a bit of strategy and organization can help your speed of night, improve customer morale while waiting in line, and get people through your to start spending money inside your venue faster. Plus, when your door system ties to your guest database, your staff is able to treat each guest with respect and a more personalized service. This in turn means they’re more likely to enjoy themselves and want to stay (and spend more money while they’re there).

4. Know Your Business Results

Today’s Reality: Most venues don’t have the right data to get an accurate gage of how well their venue is performing. Without the right system in place to analyze this data, venues are operating blindly and wasting time and money on areas that may or may not be working.

Data’s Fix: When you use one system to track all areas, you have a clear understanding of exactly what’s happening in your venue without having to log into multiple data systems. Now, you can easily track:

  • How much money you made over a given time period
  • How many customers walked through your door over a given time period (and who they were)
  • How many table reservations you have over a given time period, and how much you earn on average
  • When your customers start buying tickets to your event
  • Which staff members are bringing in the most guests (and biggest spenders)

MVP Status: Venues we work with have seen an average uptick of 30% to their bottom line after switching to a system backed by data. That’s because they know exactly what’s working and what doesn’t, which allows them to spend their money more wisely. They also improved their operations to get their guests in the door faster to get to the bar more quickly, resulting in increased bar sales. When you have absolutely clarity on your venue’s performance, you can do even more to increase your success. Without data, you’re simply just guessing and could be leaving a lot of money on the table.

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