Last year we announced 2 of the contactless pool tables in our range, last week we doubled that and gave you another two. But if you’re a pub owner still umm’ing and aah’ing as to whether you should add a contactless pool table, we’re here to tell you EVERYTHING you’ll ever need to know on why it’s the obvious choice for your business.
In a ‘tap and go’ society, adding a contactless payment reader means that more of your customers are likely to play a game if they simply have to tap their debit card to pay.
In 2018 Worldpay reported that contactless transactions overtook chip and pin payments for the first time in the UK, with consumers seeing it as a more convenient form of payment. They predicted that in the final six month of the year, UK shoppers were likely to spend up to £38.5bn via contactless payments, so it’s no surprise that commercial owners would be looking to get a piece of the pie.
With two thirds of the British population now making payments by contactless card, it seems like an obvious choice to make the switch to a contactless pool table. But we understand that you may still have your doubts.
So why should you make the switch from the traditional payment method?
- Customers don’t need to find change, no queues at the bar - reduce those queues for the customers who want to purchase food and drink at your competitive socialising venue, the table will handle your pool punters
- Half of customers don’t carry cash anymore - more customers are likely to play a round of pool if they can simply use their debit card, no needing to scour the streets for an ATM!
- No need to empty the cash box, saving staff time - ever get to the end of a long shift, think you’re ready to lock up and head home, only to realise you forgot to empty the pool table! Those days are behind you, with a contactless reader there’s no getting your hands dirty counting out the evening’s takings.
- More secure, no table break-ins - pool tables were often seen as easy targets for petty criminals. With a contactless table they become less of a target. If they choose to break in all they’re going to find to steal are some pool balls!
- Monitor every table’s performance via web portal - access your online portal on any web device to monitor the performance, low battery/out of order warnings or remotely make price changes.
- Change price of play remotely - want to offer reduced prices for multi-games, or seasonal offers? Simply change the price of play at the touch of a few buttons.
The only question we haven’t yet got the answer to is how customer’s reserve the table if not with the traditional ‘£1 on the corner’...I don’t think people will be willing to leave their debit cards!
Want to know more about the technical aspects of our tables? Andy explains in the video below, to help you to understand exactly how the contactless readers on our tables work:
The best contactless pool tables on the market
As we said earlier, we have doubled our contactless range in the last week and now have four different contactless tables to our name. Designed wholly by us, for you our customers in mind, these tables have been crafted to meet the needs of any business owner.
Signature Tournament Contactless
The Signature Tournament has always been one our most popular tables in the Signature range, with businesses and homeowners alike choosing our tournament-grade pool table as their 'weapon of choice'.
Available in both 6ft and 7ft, with an extensive variety of colour and finish combinations, the Signature Tournament offers a modern design of pool table, and a playfield that will stand the test of time. Whether being used by your average punter, or your local pool league, this table will weather all manner of play.
Signature Vantage Contactless Pool Dining Table
Over the years we have noticed the considerable lack of pool tables from pubs across the country. Pubs are getting rid of their pool table to create further space for yet more dining tables to cater for their patrons to sit and eat a meal at.
Well with the new Signature Vantage you can cater for both diners and players alike!
This 2-in-1 comes with solid oak dining tops. Sit your customers down for a slap up meal, then simply slide the dining top off and a mere few minutes later they’ll be racking it up for a few rounds of pool.
Signature Vanquish English Pool Table
The first of our latest releases in the contactless range, the Signature Vanquish is our contactless English pool table. In collaboration with Rasson, the Viper is available exclusively to rent from Home Leisure Direct and has been purposefully designed and manufactured to meet the needs and requirements of our commercial customers.
This has been 18 months in the making, perfecting every element of play, working in collaboration with Rasson, as well as consulting with some of the best players in the English 8 Ball Pool game. We can easily says this is the best English pool table on the market. It has many features that you'd normally find on high-end competition American pool tables - making it the best of the best!
Signature Viper Contactless American Pool Table
The second in our collaboration with Rasson, the Signature Viper is our dedicated contactless American Pool Table.
Similar to the Vanquish, the Viper took 18 months to design alongside Rasson, and our expert team of the best pool players in the world. We took every detail seriously in order to provide you with the most high-end table, packed with competition grade features.
Contactless pool increases takings by 52%*
We recently installed 2 Signature Vantage Pool Dining Tables into two well-known South West establishments: Sizzling at Brimsham Park in Yate and O’Neill’s in Cardiff. Both were looking for a way to maximise wasted space in their pubs, with a way that customers were able to enjoy their dining experience AND enjoy a few rounds of pool with their friends and family.
Sizzling Pub at Brimsham Park in Yate has seen a significant impact on their pool takings in such a short space of time. We looked at a 7 day window, compared to the industry average, and saw astonishing results:
In just 7 days Brimsham Park saw £147 in takings per week on their Vantage Pool Dining Table, a 52% increase vs the industry average (£98 per week). In this scenario establishments could see an increase of £2,555 in additional revenue per year - that means the table practically pays for itself, and more!
*based on a 7 day case study
So what next?
Well from the above, it now seems the obvious choice to consider investing in a contactless table for your business - congratulations! You’re well on your way to becoming a trend-setter, being one of the first in your area to be able to advertise yourselves as owners of ‘contactless pool’!
Want to learn more about competitive socialising and the benefits of it? Home Leisure Direct are hosting Competitive Socialising 2020, register now to lsecure your ticket.
Simply contact us on 0808 159 2350 or 0117 911 7261, press 2 for our commercial team, or ask to speak to Josh or Ben, and get your contactless journey started.
Alternatively, you can contact our Head of Commercial Sales (Josh) via e-mail at [email protected]