Clarity Retail
Innovative Ticketing and POS software: Movie Park Germany
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The management team of independent theme park Movie Park Germany initiated a major investment programme that included the specification of a new IT environment, complete with ticketing and POS software. Crucial to improving the commercial performance of the venue, this software also had to interface to Movie Park Germany's new ERP and HR systems.
Clarity's solution exceeded the original requirement by providing valuable additional specialist functionality and facilitating better reporting and business transparency. All this was achieved within a single integrated system, aiding staff efficiency and minimising total cost of ownership.
Client
Movie Park Germany is a well established, independent theme park situated near Düsseldorf, Germany. With strong local market recognition, it operates within the StarParks group, created when private equity firm Palamon Capital Partners bought the business from Six Flags in 2004.
During the 2006 season Movie Park attracted approximately 1.2m visitors. It employs 80 staff on a permanent basis, rising to 800 when seasonal staff are included.
Brief
Movie Park Germany's Executive Management Team is headed by General Manager Wouter Dekkers. He took the decision to implement a comprehensive modernisation programme, including updating the entertainment infrastructure and taking a more innovative approach to how IT was harnessed to improve business results. This was necessary because the legacy IT sytems were unable to handle the sophisticated requirements formulated by Mr. Dekkers and his team.
Interfacing the proposed new POS and Ticketing solutions with our existing systems was a major challenge. We selected Clarity not only because of their well-proven, market specific software applications, but also because we were impressed by their approach to the interfacing requirement.
Wouter Dekkers, General Manager, Movie Park Germany
Clarity's European Sales Director, Michel de Beer, comments,
The timeline was very short, and there were inevitable complexities to be faced in the multi-company collaboration effort that was required. That this collaboration (principally between Clarity and Exact systems) went so smoothly, was due in no small measure to the outstanding project management shown by Wouter Dekkers and his team.
Solution
Clarity's solution draws on the company's experience and product portfolio across a range of related market sectors. The FREEDOM-POS software is already well established with multi-site theme park operators across Europe and North America (Six Flags, Compagnie des Alpes, etc). What made Clarity's proposition unique, however, was the ability to provide sophisticated POS capabilities as part of a wider, integrated solution that would drive further efficiencies.
For Movie Park Germany this solution spans advanced ticketing functionality, while incorporating specialist tools developed for the retail and food service/hospitality industries. All this functionality is available to Movie Park Germany staff within a single POS system for ticketing, retail and hospitality areas, minimising the training requirement and maximising speed and ease of use.
On the ticketing front, the Clarity solution delivers the flexibility that is crucial to modern day park operators, accommodating every scenario, including;
- General admissions
- Call centre bookings, including large group entries (tickets printed live at till)
- Bookings through third party agencies
- Online customer bookings
- Self-service kiosk ticket purchase and collection
- Annual passes
Further operational gains are realised through features such as the linking of tickets to entrance turnstiles and the provision of staff photo passes. In addition to the core software, Clarity supplied a range of implementation and integration services, and provided onsite support and training by bringing in specialist staff from the US and UK. An ongoing support and maintenance contract includes 3rd line support through Clarity's dedicated multi-lingual helpdesk facility.
Outcomes
Clarity's advanced POS and ticketing functionality has been successfully integrated with Movie Park Germany's Exact ERP system. The exceptionally short project timeframe allowed no time for pre-deployment testing and inevitably lead to isolated issues arising in the first weeks of park opening. However, Clarity's implementation team kept the park operational and resolved issues in conjunction with Mr. Dekkers' team.
The timeframe created pressure on every front, but the Clarity guys responded positively to the situation and their commitment ultimately ensured a successful conclusion.
Wouter Dekkers, General Manager, Movie Park Germany
The resulting solution means that the entire Movie Park Germany estate is now run on just three applications (ERP, HR, and Clarity) - promoting a low maintenance requirement and minimising total cost of ownership. This approach also creates outstanding business reporting and transparency across all the park's key sales activities.
Reporting across our ticketing, concessions, food and retail related activities has been significantly enhanced. This is invaluable to the Executive Management Team's efforts to improve decision making and profitability.
Wouter Dekkers, General Manager, Movie Park Germany.
Clarity's Michel de Beer concludes,
Movie Park Germany has been a challenging project due to the tight timescales involved, but we were always confident that the exceptional flexibility of Clarity's software would deliver the results we promised. Movie Park Germany now has a state-of-the-art solution to drive its commercial activities, showing that our software is as effective for individual theme parks as it is for larger, multi-site concerns.
