The summer season for the FEC business in the US has been full of bumps and bruises this year according to Sega Entertainment's Cory Haynes. The weather in the north-west has been the hottest on record and the rain in the north-east has been non-stop.
"With the economy still in recovery consumers are being very value conscious," said Haynes. "Any marketing message you try to put out has to be heard through so many other messages and discounting that it is hard to be recognised.
"Normally we would get a two to three per cent return on a coupon offer, now we are getting a half of a per cent redemption rate. However, you can’t stop, you simply have to keep pushing through the clutter and try to be heard."
According to Haynes the value offering, where a customer can eat and play games for a set price, continues to do well and redemption is continuing to grow at GameWorks.
"We have seen a customer shift from video to redemption game play this summer. The continued success of Big Bass Wheel, Slam-A-Winner, Deal or No Deal and Red Hot have helped support this growth. Also early figures on Skee Ball’s Super 21 have been very strong and encouraging."
For Haynes, some bright spots on the video/simulator side are Hummer Deluxe, Rambo, Raizing Storm and Guitar Hero. "Our Hummer Deluxe has quickly become our top earning video. We are in the process of rolling out two each of the new King of Harley Deluxe to each GameWorks location."
Things are, however, looking up with regard to new product and innovation and for Haynes there are definitely projects out there to get excited about. "I met with several of the manufacturers during the summer and I am very excited to hear what’s coming up for AMOA and IAAPA. I think hard times bring innovation and it looks to me like manufacturing is doing just that. Sega has several new pieces headed our way, Namco is working on some cool stuff, Bay Tek showed me a new piece that will be a must have. All in all, I am looking forward to the coming months and the new line-up of machines."
