# Closing Revenue Leaks at a Children's Play Zone

_Family Entertainment — Confidential Client_

**Technologies:** POS, Kiosk, KOT, WhatsApp Automation

**Outcome:** Eliminated unbilled play-time overruns and cafe order mismatches, and recovered repeat visits through automated WhatsApp follow-up.

## Overview

A children's indoor play zone with an attached café was losing money in ways that were hard to see day-to-day: play sessions that ran longer than paid for, cafe orders that didn't match what was billed, and families who visited once and never came back because no one followed up with them.

## The Challenge

Entry was tracked on paper wristbands with a handwritten start time, so front-desk staff had to manually estimate whether a child's session had run over the paid duration — and busy weekends meant overruns were often missed entirely. The attached café ran on a separate handwritten order pad, so kitchen staff sometimes prepared items that were never billed, and the front counter had no way to verify what a table actually ordered versus what was charged. There was also no record of who had visited, so there was no way to bring lapsed families back with a reminder or offer.

Individually, each gap looked small. Added up over a month, they represented a meaningful and largely invisible share of revenue walking out the door.

## The Solution

Code Kumite implemented a connected system across entry, café, and guest communication:

- **Timed child passes** — every entry generates a digital pass with a hard start and end time, so overruns are flagged automatically at the front desk instead of estimated by eye
- **Self-service kiosk** — parents can purchase passes and top-up play time directly at a kiosk, reducing front-desk queues during peak hours and removing manual entry errors
- **POS-based café billing** — café orders are entered directly into the POS at the counter, replacing the handwritten order pad
- **KOT (Kitchen Order Ticket) system** — every order sent to the kitchen is generated from the POS, so nothing reaches the kitchen without first being billed, and nothing is billed without reaching the kitchen
- **Automated WhatsApp follow-up** — after each visit, families receive an automated thank-you message with a return offer, and lapsed visitors are re-engaged automatically after a set period of inactivity

## Implementation

We started with the entry and pass system, since untracked play time was the most direct source of leakage, then connected the café POS and KOT flow so kitchen and billing could never drift out of sync. The kiosk was introduced last, once staff were comfortable with the new pass and billing flow, to reduce front-desk load during busy hours. WhatsApp follow-up automation was layered on top of the existing customer contact captured at entry, requiring no additional data collection step for staff.

## Results

- Play-time overruns became visible and billable in real time instead of being missed at a busy front desk
- Every kitchen order was tied to a paid POS ticket, closing the gap between what was cooked and what was charged
- Front-desk queues eased during peak hours as the kiosk absorbed routine pass purchases and top-ups
- Automated WhatsApp follow-ups began bringing back families who would otherwise have visited once and never returned

## Conclusion

None of the individual leaks were dramatic on their own — a few extra minutes here, an unbilled snack there, a family that never came back. Connecting entry, billing, and guest communication into one system closed all three at once, turning invisible leakage into visible, recoverable revenue.

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Source: https://www.codekumite.com/case-studies/playzone-revenue-leakage-prevention