West End theatre hails Casio EPoS system's performance

Casio QT-6600 and MicroTill rock The Dominion

West End theatre The Dominion has announced that it has implemented an electronic point-of-sales (EPoS) system from Casio to fulfill its merchandise and hospitality needs.

The Dominion, which has hosted the musical We Will Rock You for the past nine years, had been using the same EPoS system since the show began, but according to Mark Satchell, theatre manager at the Dominion, the system was beginning to fall short of requirements.

"Nine years is a long time to have any technology system in place and cracks were beginning to show. Our biggest issue was adding new stock lines which had to be uploaded centrally and offsite, sometimes entailing delays of around a week before the item showed on the Dominion system," he said.

Satchell added that the team also wanted to expand into hosting private events, and in order to do this, it needed to be able to offer centralised billing, table billing and provide merchandise that was automatically reconciled to clients' invoices.

The theatre team eventually conceded that change was necessary after credit cards failed to be accepted by the existing terminals. This had an obvious negative impact on sales as operators were forced to accept cash-only payments.

"We have a relatively short sales window of around 75 minutes for each performance – and within this time without credit card payments for merchandise, people would have to source cash from nearby ATMs. Frustratingly, this situation remained unresolved for six months," said Satchell.

So the team identified Casio's QT-6600 as a potential replacement, as the EPoS system is designed specifically for use within the hospitality market with a 15in colour touchscreen display that is usable even in the dim lighting conditions of a theatre foyer.

In addition, the unit is designed to optimise staff and department productivity together with effective management reporting and stock control.

To further customise the solution, the Dominion team called on MicroTill, specialists in the provision of high-end hospitality solutions, to provide a bespoke solution. According to the Dominon Theatre, uplift of the stock items was rapidly and easily transferred by the MicoTill engineers, and on-site training of the team took just 30 minutes.

As a result, the front of house and events management teams can now drill down per register, per employee and per designated floor space, so that they can match productivity and demand.

"The ability to drill down has given an increased depth to our ability to manage staff. At the theatre, we understand that accurate training and incentivising front of house staff are important elements of career development and the enhanced sales experience.

"We can tell, for instance, if a particular member of staff is struggling with inputs – the number of voids highlights the requirement for extra training. We can also now accurately put in place staff incentives that encourage upselling and reward incremental sales," said Satchell.