Zero Latency VR sales roar back to life in 2021
As vaccines are rolled out and restrictions lifted, entertainment is opening up around the world. We’re seeing encouraging signs emerging from across the LBE sector. The “pent up demand” hypothesis is holding true as people, keen to reconnect and socialise, flock to out-of-home entertainment venues.
“It was like the market said - enough, (it’s) time to get back to the real normal, not the new one” said Jason Wright, owner of Zero Latency VR DFW.
His venue in Dallas saw a steady increase in ticket sales since reopening in late May 2020, culminating in the highest ever month of ticket sales during March 2021.
Mr Wright’s strategy for re-opening success is to provide the best environment possible for staff and customers, and to be decisive.
“Stay the course. Make the decisions for your venue, whether it be operating hours, private games, masks/no masks for customers and staff and stick to it”.
Fully operational venues in the USA and Australia are a great litmus test for COVID-Normal demand for LBE and FRVR worldwide. Spring break in the US saw a strong bounce back in revenue at Zero Latency VR venues. Better yet, that trend has held with April numbers across the board, beating historical averages in both countries.
Ticket sales at Zero Latency VR Houston increased by 81% in March 2021 compared to the previous month. Operations Manager Chalayne Ainley attributes this to the governor allowing businesses to open fully. “Although we have remained open since the beginning of last summer, I think it brought a lot more people out to have that stamp of approval”.
And all this without the lucrative corporate events market really kicking in yet; though early signs point to increased enquiries as businesses look for fun and safe ways to reconnect their teams, now they are able to do so.
Zero Latency VR Reno has bounced back quickly, after being shut between mid March and early June 2020. A steady stream of revenue throughout the second half of 2020 culminated in back-to-back best ever months during March and April 2021.
Greg Kunde, who operates the venue believes training his team to go above and beyond when it comes to cleaning hardware and interacting with guests has been core to his success.
“Our team does an amazing job explaining the experience to the guests, and driving the upsell for longer plays and repeat bookings”.
After a tricky 15 months for LBE it is awesome to see customers voting with their feet and flocking to spend time with friends and family out of the house and in venues.
This is also being reflected on the B2B front as well, as the renewed consumer confidence has led to an explosion of interest to open Zero Latency VR venues around the world, particularly in North America and Australia. It clearly demonstrates that great products and concepts in the LBE space have both longevity and enormous growth potential as operators look for new and better ways to engage and entertain their customers as they shrug off the COVID blues and get back to normal… the real normal!