To attract customers to your venue you need to adapt quickly. Social trends change, and so should your business. Competitive socializing is a fast-growing trend gaining popularity worldwide, and it is projected to become the norm within the next 2 to 5 years.
The concept of competitive socializing is simple: guests want to have fun with interactive and immersive activities apart from only spending the evening with food & drinks.
Millennials are masters in social media (they created social media), and Gen-Z are digital natives: they both are used to video games, online social interaction, gamification, etc.
All in all, a big portion of the leisure market is both digital and competitive. Are you only offering food and drinks? You are missing out. You have to add more action to your venue. This means we have a new trend in the leisure industry: competitive socializing games.
Your leisure business must offer experiences that cater to a growing market and that people are willing to pay for.
In this article, we will introduce you to the benefits, processes, and examples of the strongest trend in the leisure industry: competitive socializing.
The Competitive Socializing trend can be summarized in 2 concepts: competitive games & social interaction. Competitive Socializing allows guests to interact more with each other through classic and trendy games such as shuffleboards, ax throwing, mini-golf, bowling, etc. rather than just enjoying a dinner or drinks together.
For both guests and venues, competitive socializing means much higher engagement and memorable experiences.
Competitive games are the most engaging activity in the leisure business. It allows customers to have an 'experience' instead of only eating and drinking.
"Having drinks" vs "Playing pool"? "Playing pool" implies already having drinks, yet a lot more fun.
The most relevant benefits of competitive socializing that we have experienced so far with our clients:
Engagement is the name of the game. With competitive socializing, your guests aren’t just passively having some drinks — they’re fully immersed in a social experience.
Social Games do not only keep guests longer, which implies higher food and beverage sales, but also encourage them to come back. A venue that offers dynamic, interactive fun becomes a go-to spot for social gatherings, ensuring a steady stream of loyal customers.
Competitive socializing can serve as a platform for businesses and organizations to host team-building, networking, and corporate events.
Team building and company culture are strengthened by engaging in social events. Preparing your venue to host such gatherings will improve your business visibility and positioning.
Not only corporate events, but any private social gathering can easily take place at your venue when offering engaging activities. Think of friend parties, graduations, birthdays, anniversaries, etc. They could all take place at your venue.
Coming back to Millennials and Gen-Z, they are both tech-savvy and love sharing their experiences online. Technology drives social trends. Being online is not an option anymore, it's a necessity.
The more aligned your venue experiences are with new audiences, the easier you can penetrate new markets. Competitive social games such as AR darts or supercharged shuffleboards will make a whole difference in your balance sheet bringing your venue online every time your guests share their game experience. This means more exposure, more guests, and more revenue.
In short: to supply a tech-driven audience, you need to have a tech-driven business.
Competitive socializing isn’t just fun — it’s a proven moneymaker.
Game experiences can be monetized easily, you can for example:
charge by the hour of use
install coin-based games
charge by the number of players
Competitive games also allow guests to stay longer to enjoy the game experience increased dwell time = more revenue.
Social activities diversify your revenue streams. From game fees and rentals to increased sales of food and drinks, you’re opening up multiple avenues for profit.
Pay attention to the upfront costs: despite needing a higher initial investment, the return of that budget in competitive socializing yields much higher profits than traditional business models focused solely on drinks or games.
The most critical step to succeed with competitive social concepts is to define your target audience. Understanding who you want to attract will determine the rest of your business and marketing plan.
You will get to decide the types of games you want to install, and the atmosphere you want to create which will set the investment needed to achieve each goal.
Are you aiming for Millennials and Gen-Z? Look for Instagrammable experiences, tech-driven games, and lots of interactivity.
Recommended experiences are: AR darts or Supercharged shuffleboards.
Examples of venues targeting Millenials/Gen-Z: Bars or Game Centers.
Are you aiming for Professionals? Create a relaxing and fun environment where guests can network and interact after work. Facilitate business connections with an event room with enough activities for fun and team-building.
Recommended experiences: Cocktail bar, Pool table, or Classic Shuffleboards.
Examples of venues targeting professionals: Bars or Hotels.
Are you aiming for Families? Make sure you include games and activities for both adults and children. Recommended experiences: Restaurant, Mini-golf, Board games.
Example of venues targeting families: Family Entertainment Centers.
Choose games and activities that promote social interaction and engagement among guests. Games like shuffleboard, mini-golf, and darts encourage friendly competition and are easy to play.
Depending on your customer persona, incorporate a mix of the best games and activities for them. Guests want more options, so forget about one-game-only nights.
Classics like billiards and foosball are always popular, while newer options like AR darts and VR gaming have taken off in the last few years.
Business-wise, we created a shortlist of the most engaging games to ensure guests stay as long as possible.
Multiplayer Games: Games that support multiple players, such as bowling, shuffleboards, or AR darts. As many guests participate, each person might need to play multiple times to feel satisfied with the game, multiplying the time spent in your venue having drinks or food. An example of this could be shuffleboard games, like the ones we implemented at Par 59 - Cardiff England and Final Touch Amsterdam which led those venues to increase their guests' dwell time.
Skill-Based Challenges: Offer games that involve skill development or challenges, like shuffleboard or pool. Guests often spend more time at your venue competing and tend to return to practice.
Interactive and Immersive Games: Choose games that provide immersive experiences, such as AR darts or interactive escape rooms. The depth and engagement of these games can keep guests entertained for extended periods.
Tournament and League Play: Organize regular tournaments or league nights for games like darts or billiards, which not only keep guests coming back but also ensure they stay longer to compete and socialize. Plus organizing tournaments, like shuffleboard tournaments, might give extra publicity to your venue as most guests will be sharing their experience online on social media, especially the winners.
Unique Lighting Design: Dress to impress, using, for example, led color lighting. Youtubers, for instance, know the importance of ambient lights and how they can determine the atmosphere and mood of the audience. Millennials and Gen-Z are used to those settings, so integrating them into your venue will make it feel familiar and comfortable for them.
Easy Layout Flow: Set up games in a way that encourages movement and social interaction. Avoid cramped spaces; instead, provide a 'walk' friendly layout that makes it easy for guests to move between games and hang out in between games. We did this at Dave & Busters, helping the venue owner to set up the right game layout for the venue, helping to increase the revenue per footprint and guest experience.
Prioritize Comfort: Incorporate comfortable seating and lounge areas where guests can relax between games. Ensure that tables and chairs are placed strategically for guests to rest and enjoy their food and drinks. An example of maximizing space and comfort is our Shuffly shuffleboard-bar which integrates a full bar with our classic shuffleboard table.
Integrate Technology: Use digital displays and interactive screens to enhance the gaming experience. AR Darts or Supercharged shuffleboards are the best examples. With automatic scorekeeping and interactive game elements with different scenarios and multi-games, they are the perfect combination to keep your guests tat your venue for a long time.
Offer a Diverse Game Selection: There are a lot of competitive social games you can choose from shuffleboard, mini-golf, VR games, or darts. Variety ensures the longest guests' dwell time: preventing them from wanting to leave or getting bored. Of course, the activities you offer will be determined by the audience you try to reach.
Create Activity Packages: You can offer bundles, such as "Games + Food Night". Make guests try new things so they get to find their favorite and come back for more. Again, the goal is to keep the guest happy, which equals longer stays and better profits per guest.
Adapt to Trends: Stay updated on the latest trends in competitive socializing and in the leisure business overall, to be ready to capture new audiences and capitalize on business potential.
Providing a variety of activities keeps your venue dynamic and appealing to a broad audience, encouraging guests to return for new and exciting experiences.
Website visitors that have not made a reservation in 7 days after 1st visit.
Facebook users that have Leisure interests, located close to your venue, from 18-45 years old.
You can create as many audiences or groups as you need and even AB test different audiences to check which one has the highest ROI.
Engage with Your Audience: Interact with your followers by responding to comments, hosting live sessions, and running interactive polls or contests. Engaging directly with your audience builds a loyal community.
Encourage User-Generated Content: Motivate guests to share their experiences on social media by creating shareable moments, such as photo-worthy game setups or branded hashtags. Reward participants with discounts or giveaways.
There is no leisure industry without food & drinks.
Variety Will Always Win: Even with themed concepts, such as a sushi bar. Within the range you want to offer you always need to ensure there is enough variety of food and drinks. Especially a variety of drinks, as they are typically what guests will hold and consume for the majority of their time.
Create Signature Items: Develop items exclusive to your venue, such as signature cocktails or unique food experiences. These can become a talking point and draw guests in for an original culinary experience.
The Highest Service Quality: This is a no-brainer in any industry, an exceptional service will always make a big difference. It will trigger great reviews, testimonials, word of mouth, etc. Train your staff to provide exceptional service that supports the amazing experience you offer at your venue.
Split Dining and Gaming Areas: Ensure easy access to dedicated dining areas, and if you offer games, ensure they don't disrupt guests' experiences with food service. Unless your concepts mixes games and dining areas on purpose, like a shuffleboard bar, for example.
Offering a top-notch hospitality experience with great food and drinks can make your venue a preferred destination for social gatherings and repeat visits.
Examples of automated booking systems:
Skeeda: Best booking system for overall room management.
Reservio: Best booking system for game centers.
BookNow: Best booking system for family entertainment centers.
Examples of Digital Payment Solutions:
Squareup: best payment platform for small businesses.
LightSpeed: best point of sale payment platform.
Stripe: best payment platform for any type of transaction.
Mollie: best payment platform for larger companies.
Adyen: best payment platform for eCommerce.
Optimize Operations with Automation: implement automated systems for inventory management, order processing, or guest service.
Provide "Competitive Social" Training: Ensure your team is well-trained in both consumer service and game mastery. Competitive social games are new to many people so your team needs to be well prepared to explain rules to guests and help them at any moment.
What is competition without games? Competitive socializing can be described as game experiences. Here is a list of the most revenue-making games within the competitive socializing trend:
Shuffleboards: Because each game lasts around 15-45 minutes and guests tend to come in groups, shuffleboard can keep guests in your venue longer. They can easily enjoy a quick game of shuffleboard while waiting for their next scheduled activity, such as bowling or an escape room. This increases the average revenue per customer.
Foosball: Foosball is quite physical and fast-paced, so it attracts young guests. Foosball’s entry barrier is low, so anyone can play table football. Table football matches don't last very long. But guests don't just play one game. They usually play at least 2 or 3.
Arcade: It blends old and new technology to provide an entertaining experience for different types of guests of your venue. It creates a more immersive and engaging experience for your guests. Arcade can also be addictive (personal experience!)
Pinball: Pinball is a classic among competitive social games. Not too big, a nostalgic look and perfect for competitive social events. All those lights, moving parts, sounds and challenges can keep guests in your venue longer, so they spend more money on drinks or food.
Par 59 is a socializing spot right in the heart of Cardiff. The venue combines a classic: mini-golf, with the latest trend in social games (the supercharged shuffleboard).
With two custom-built mini-golf courses featuring nine holes each, guests have plenty of fun, in a friendly yet competitive environment. The venue also offers a premium bar with delicious street food, making it the perfect example of the mix of social + games (competitive socializing).
Dave & Buster’s is a restaurant & games venue with multiple locations across the US. This venue combines multiple gaming experiences with a wide offering of bits & bites, as well as drinks.
Dave and Buster’s is focused on high-tech games such as virtual reality action tours, and arcade games. Some of the most popular games at DB’s are arcade games and immersive video games. One in particular, the one in Houston, Texas has recently added a new Shuffly game in their offering: the supercharged shuffleboard.
SAM City in Hoorn is an all-in-one destination for fun and entertainment, quite well known in the Netherlands, especially for families and kids. It is a great example of competitive socializing is also expanding towards the family entertainment industry.
SAM City includes games focused on the young ones, such as a trampoline park, escape games, and laser tag but also includes activities for adults like shuffleboard tables together with a restaurant.
Electric Shuffle in London takes shuffleboard to a whole new level as a competitive social experience. This venue offers the most advanced interactive shuffleboards: score screens, a digitized playing field, impressive lighting and sound….
Electric Shuffle also organizes shuffleboard tournaments for up to 320 people, as well as DJ sessions, a wide drinks menu, and delicious food. Either for corporate events or any other social gathering, Electric Shuffle is the place to be in London.
Puttshack in London has redefined mini-golf with its advanced technology. This venue features a ball-tracking system that automatically scores each player, so you can forget about tracking everything and just enjoy the game.
As a good example of competitive socializing, Puttshack combines its high-tech mini-golf with a fantastic selection of food and drink.
At Shuffly we build the best professional, custom, and home shuffleboards. Ready to transform your venue into the best place for social gatherings and competitive social gaming? Reach out to know more about our products and for leisure advice.
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