Many Amusement parks use electronic ticketing for their entry. Electronic tickets, or "eTickets" as they are sometimes referred, are often delivered as PDFs or another downloadable format that can be received via email or through a mobile app. Electronic tickets allow spectators to download their tickets, as opposed to waiting for physical tickets to arrive in the mail. A printed copy of these tickets or a digital copy on a mobile phone should be presented on coming to the entry area. These tickets now normally also have a barcode, which may be scanned on entry into the parks to streamline crowd processing. Electronic tickets have become increasingly prevalent in the entertainment industry over the last decade.

In some cases, customers who want to see a park may not need a printable electronic ticket. If someone with a membership card also can book a ticket online, the member can just verify his/her reservation with a membership card at the entrance.

Mobile ticketing is the process whereby customers can order, pay for, obtain and/or validate tickets using mobile phones, without the need of a physical ticket. A mobile ticket contains unique ticket verification (QR code). Mobile tickets reduce the production and distribution costs connected with traditional paper-based ticketing channels and increase customer convenience by providing new and simple ways to purchase tickets. People will not worry about losing a ticket or realizing left tickets at home when arrive at the venue. Mobile tickets are also a way to combat scalping and ticket fraud that has been a big problem for the entertainment industry.

Some of the sales promotions are considered as:

? Percentage or dollar discounts or coupons

? Redeemable vouchers

? Free gifts or giveaways

? Buy one, get one free, known as BOGO or BOGOF

Promotional offers are a great way to attract customer attention. Determining what to offer and how to describe it is the key. Customers are bombarded with offers and ads all day long through email, pop-up banners, radio, television, billboards, transit signage, you name it.

As a part of supply chain, inventory management includes aspects such as controlling and overseeing purchases ? from suppliers as well as customers ? maintaining the storage of stock, controlling the amount of product for sale, and order fulfilment. Naturally, company?s precise inventory management meaning will vary based on the types of products you sell and the channels you sell them through. But as long as those basic ingredients are present, you?ll have a solid foundation to build upon.

Retail is the broadest catch-all term to describe business-to-consumer (B2C) selling. There are essentially two types of retail separated by how and where a sale takes place.

• First, online retail (eCommerce) where the purchase takes place digitally.
• Second, offline retail where the purchase is physical through a brick-and-mortar storefront or a salesperson.

Wholesale, on the other hand, refers to business-to-business (B2B) selling. Knowing the differences and best practices of retail and wholesale is critical to success. Most businesses maintain stock across multiple channels as well as in multiple locations. The diversity of retail inventory management adds to its complexity and drives home its importance to your brand.

Inventory management terms

Barcode scanner
Physical devices used to check-in and check-out stock items at in-house fulfilment centres and third-party warehouses.

Bundles
Groups of products that are sold as a single product: selling a camera, lens, and bag as one SKU.

Cost of goods sold (COGS)
Direct costs associated with production along with the costs of storing those goods.

Deadstock
Items that have never been sold or used by a customer (typically because it?s outdated in some way) is considered as a deadstock.

Decoupling inventory
Also known as safety stock or decoupling stock; refers to inventory that?s set aside as a safety net to mitigate the risk of a complete halt in production if one or more components are unavailable.

Economic order quantity (EOQ)
EOQ refers to how much you should reorder, taking into account demand and your inventory holding costs.

Landed costs
These are the costs of shipping, storing, import fees, duties, taxes and other expenses associated with transporting and buying inventory.

Lead time
The time it takes a supplier to deliver goods after an order is placed along with the timeframe for a business? reordering needs.

Order fulfillment
The complete lifecycle of an order from the point of sale to pick-and-pack to shipping to customer delivery.

Order management
Backend or ?back office? mechanisms that govern receiving orders, processing payments, as well as fulfillment, tracking and communicating with customers.

Purchase order (PO)
Commercial document (B2B) between a supplier and a buyer that outlines types, quantities, and agreed prices for products or services.

Safety stock
Also known as buffer stock; inventory held in a reserve to guard against shortages.

Sales order
The transactional document sent to customers after a purchase is made but before an order is fulfilled.

Stock keeping unit (SKU)
Unique tracking code (alphanumeric) assigned to each of your products, indicating style, size, color, and other attributes.

Variant
Unique version of a product, such as a specific color or size.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software brings together all information from different departments throughout the company to give one, holistic view of each customer in real time.

This allows customer-facing employees in areas such as sales, marketing and customer support to make quick and informed decisions on everything from up-selling and cross-selling, to improving the quality of customer communication and responsiveness, to coordinating the management of sales and marketing campaigns.

How does CRM work?

Although some people think of CRM as just a technology, it is so much more than that.

No technology, no matter how sophisticated ? can be successful without a strategy to guide its implementation and use. Business strategy and technology must work together in order to bring a customer-centric plan to life.

Let's take a look at the role CRM plays in customer-centricity, customer data management and automation.

• Supports a customer-centric strategy

  A CRM system supports a strategy which says that the customer is at the center of everything that you do. This customer-centric strategy must be based on clear goals and a vision of what a meaningful customer experience looks like.

  A valuable customer experience is an integral part of CRM, according to Gartner?s report, "Improving the Customer Experience".

  Every time a customer comes in contact with an organization, through any of its channels, the customer has an opportunity to form an opinion ? be it good, bad or indifferent. Through time, this collective set of customer experiences forms a picture in the customer?s mind, which in turn, forms the image of the brand its values.

  Organizations that are serious about CRM design and maintain a quality customer experience because they recognize that a poor customer experience is a step toward customer churn, whereas a good experience encourages loyalty.

• Centralizes all your customer data

  CRM software combines all sales, marketing and customer service information into one central database.

  With 92% of businesses collecting data on prospects and customers, having access to all data in database means fewer silos within your organization - thus helping you achieve customer centricity.

  What kind of customer information is being collected?

  Customer information includes, but is not limited to, phone numbers, addresses, and last contact made. The software also records what was discussed, what the next follow-up date is and even the status of an open item - all of these play an important role.

  This information can then be used to manage, measure, and keep track of marketing, sales and customer service activities as they relate to the customer. Overall, it builds greater customer loyalty and a better customer experience.

  Since a CRM system centralizes all customer-facing information, silos and finger pointing are significantly reduced. Sales can?t blame Marketing for not communicating with them. Marketing can?t blame Sales for not implementing their campaigns and Customer Service can?t blame Sales for disgruntled customers.

  Everyone has the same access to the same customer information - giving you a complete 360-degree view of the customer.

  

  The following chart explains a sample what is included in each process:

  

• Customer-facing process automation

  1. Lead management

  There?s an entire process before a lead becomes a customer.

  You need to identify a lead, then qualify it and only then convert the lead into a sale. A lead can come from many channels ? a website, cold calling, social selling, an event/seminar, or it can be purchased.

  With this number of channels, it must be clear which person or department is ultimately responsible for logging the lead in, because this determines how the lead should be routed and how it will be followed up on. Without a clearly defined process (work flow), leads can end up lost or forgotten, which results in frustration, lost sales productivity and even a bad customer experience.

  

  2. Customer support

  There should be clear rules for how customer service requests are managed.

  These rules define whether a request goes to the first or second line of support, what resources will be used to solve a customer?s problem and how status updates will be shared to ensure that the issue is being addressed. Once the work flow and rules are defined, the CRM system can automate the whole flow.

  At the same time, it keeps a record of all contacts? history, so that customer service teams can view the information to get a better understanding of how to help the customer, which can then be used to improve customer satisfaction.

  Here are some strategies to improve continuous marketing engagement:

  • Send a thank you email as a token of appreciation and connects you with them with a positive impression. And the base of creating customer relationships is connecting with people.
  • Ask for reviews to measure your customer success with your products and services. You can encourage customers to provide reviews; you can entice them with a discount or special deal, like free shipping on their next order.
  • Cross-sell or upsell your product through post purchase emails. Notify your customers on your new products and also offer product recommendations based on their previous purchase.
  • Customer loyalty programs are one of the best ways to engage customers after they have made their purchase.
  • Request for referrals is an effective form of marketing. People tend to make a purchase for sure when it is recommended by a friend or family. The best time to request a referral after the sale is closed.

What Is a Point of Sale (POS)?

Point of sale (POS), a critical piece of a point of purchase refers to the place where a customer executes the payment for goods or services and where sales taxes may become payable. It can be in a physical store, where POS terminals and systems are used to process card payments or a virtual sales point such as a computer or mobile electronic device.

Understanding POS

Points of sale (POSs) are an important focus for marketers because consumers tend to make purchasing decisions on high-margin products or services at these strategic locations. Traditionally, businesses set up POSs near store exits to increase the rate of impulse purchases as customers leave. However, varying POS locations can give retailers more opportunities to micro-market specific product categories and influence consumers at earlier points in the sales funnel.

For example, department stores often have POSs for individual product groups, such as appliances, electronics, and apparel. The designated staff can actively promote products and guide consumers through purchase decisions rather than simply processing transactions. Similarly, the format of a POS can affect profit or buying behaviour, as this gives consumers flexible options for making a purchase.

Amazon?s concept convenience store, Amazon Go, which deploys technologies that let shoppers come in, grab items, and walk out without going through a register, could revolutionize POS systems. Besides increasing convenience, this could enable POSs, loyalty, and payments to be rolled into a single customer-centric experience.

Benefits of POS Systems

Electronic POS software systems streamline retail operations by automating the transaction process and tracking important sales data. Basic systems include an electronic cash register and software to coordinate data collected from daily purchases. Retailers can increase functionality by installing a network of data-capture devices, including card readers and barcode scanners.

Depending on the software features, retailers can track pricing accuracy, inventory changes, gross revenue, and sales patterns. Using integrated technology to track data helps retailers catch discrepancies in pricing or cash flow that could lead to profit loss or interrupt sales. POS systems that monitor inventory and buying trends can help retailers avoid customer service issues, such as out-of-stock sales, and tailor purchasing and marketing to consumer behaviour.

POS Innovation

Modern POS systems are commonly programmable or allow enhancement with third-party software programs. These systems can be tailored to meet specific needs.

Cloud-based POS systems are increasingly in use, particularly for large online merchants, to track and process numerous purchases. Cloud-based systems can greatly reduce the upfront costs of implementing a POS system for many businesses.

Customers can also interact directly with POS systems, particularly in the hospitality industry. Often referred to as location-based technology, these systems can process transactions at customer locations. For example, at many restaurants, customers can view menus and place orders on terminals located at their table. In hotels, customers use similar terminals to place orders for room service or to pay hotel bills.

With a combined experience of over 10 years in the field of RFID contactless transactions, we are dedicated to provide a platform to automate and improve workload balance while identifying and removing bottlenecks and increasing the efficiency, all the while maximising the correct use of production resources to increase customer satisfaction and reduce costs.

The emergence of new technology and need for a global business made the cashless transactions more popular and with advent of Covid19, it has now become an essential requirement to do business. There were various methods of cashless transactions that were frequently used, but due to the economic advancements the need for other faster and reliable methods has motivated many entrepreneurs and economist to introduce reliable and easy to use methods of cashless transaction.

CASHLESS TRANSACTION SYSTEMS

Cashless transaction is a process of buying goods and services against money where there is no physical currency is involved. The physical currency is replaced by a number of methods that are powered by digital information technology and are capable to transfer money from one person?s mobile to another person?s mobile.

All these money transfer methods have their own, features, qualities, and mechanisms that work together with other devices or equipment?s; therefore they are termed as "systems".

Any trading activity, the issue of safe and reliable money exchange between transacting parties is also essential. In a cashless environment, payments take the form of money exchange in an electronic form which makes it safe and reliable. Merchant sells the goods to customer and customer pays the price with the help of cashless methods with safety and reliability where as in offline payments are made with cash / card.

There are many reasons behind the people?s choice to do cashless transactions like convenience, improved and trusted digital technology, need to acquire things faster and cheaper along with maintaining a track record for all transactions. The Wallet cards were the most common for cashless transactions in India. The shifting paradigm gave a new height to the cashless transactions in the country and also influenced consumers and their perception towards these methods of transaction.

METHODS OF CASHLESS TRANSACTION

Inconvenient and expensive to handle coins and notes are replaced by efficient electronic payments initiated by various types of plastic cards that have a tantalizing prospect for the twenty-first century. There are various cashless transaction methods such as Pre paid cards, Mobile / E Wallets.

Methods of Cashless Transactions in India

• Pre-paid card: A pre-paid card is about the size of a credit card, which is made of plastic with an embedded microprocessor chip that holds important financial and personal information. The microprocessor chip is loaded with the relevant information and periodically recharged. In addition to these pieces of information, systems have been developed to store cash onto the chip. In order to pay via smart credit and it is necessary to introduce the card into a hardware terminal. The device requires a special key from the issuing bank to start a money transfer in either direction.
• E-Wallet (Mobile Wallet): An electronic wallet is a method which is very useful for frequent online shoppers. It is commercially available for pocket as palm-sized, hand held, and desktop PCs. It offers a secure, convenient, and portable tool for online shopping.

Using Wristband at Water Park area:

In Waterpark guest faces a problem of carrying smart card, paper or currency for any purchase inside the water park. To solve this problem we have implemented wristbands as e-wallet at our water park. The wrist bands have two chips inside it. One, the proximity chip which acts as a key for opening the lockers and other, the smartcard RFID chip to securely store value on to it.

As the guest arrives at the ticket counter at waterpark, he usually hires a locker for keeping his belongings. When he takes a locker the same wristband with two chips is offered as a key to the locker. He is also offered predefined stored values (e-money) for his expenses inside the water park. Guest chooses the desired amount and once the transaction is completed, the billing application generates a unique 16 digit code known at SVID and stores it on to the smartcard chip. This SVID is tagged with the details of the guest such as his name and mobile number in the central database server.

Those guests who do not hire a locker and also presented with a similar wrist band which has only the RFID chip with same e-money facility.

The guest pays for any expenses with this wrist band e-wallet by just tapping it on the smartcard reader present at each counter POS terminal. The billing application deducts the appropriate value of transaction from the e-wallet and stores the details against unique SVID to the central database server. The guest who wishes to know his/her e-wallet balance or transactions he made can visit any nearby POS terminal to get the details.

If in-case the guest loses his wristband, he can go to the ticket counter and get a new wrist band with the top-up of balance amount, which was there on his lost wrist band, loaded on to it after successful verification of his name and mobile number by the cashier at the counter.

At the end of the day, when guest wants to return back, he goes to the dedicated counters to return the wrist band and take the remaining amount of money which is left on the wrist band e-wallet and also the refund of deposit he paid while taking the wrist band. When the cashier completes the refund transaction, the billing application de-activates the SVID loaded on the wristband to avoid any misuse.

By this process the problem of carrying wallet inside the waterpark by the guest is solved by using the smartcard wristbands.