Smeetz x Adyen: Payments become a pleasure for leisure venues

While hoteliers began their digital shift 15 years ago, leisure professionals have long been behind in this regard. Amusement parks, zoos and aquariums, museums and historical sites, attractions and FECs, theatres and events... The majority of the leisure industry still relies on outdated software solutions, fragmented across different systems to manage transactions. But with the impetus of players like Smeetz, the situation is changing rapidly. Driven by the need for innovative solutions including a Revenue Management dimension, the sector is now digitising at lightning speed.

Cash register software, e-commerce software, Excel files to manage more complex bookings... Gone are the days when transactions were managed by a multitude of disparate and siloed solutions. "Smeetz consolidates all these functions within the same software, allowing us to generate an astronomical amount of data on all these data points. It is then possible to leverage this data in Revenue Management modules and features," explains Alexandre Martin, CEO and co-founder of Smeetz.

As powerful as it is modern, the Smeetz commercial solution allows leisure venues to sell their tickets, retail items, and other food products through various sales channels, both online and on-site, from a centralised inventory. The benefits of this approach are twofold:

• The SaaS solution is deployable across all channels - PoS, e-commerce, kiosk - to centralise all transactions in one place.

• Once centralised, transaction data can be used to optimise business operations, both through the reduction of manual and operational tasks and through revenue increase via Revenue Management.

Established in 2018, Smeetz first expanded into the Swiss market before gradually establishing itself in the UK. To accelerate its international growth while remaining compliant with PSD2 regulations, the platform quickly realised the need for the right payment partner. Its choice then turned to Adyen.

To grow at the desired pace and expand into the European territory, Smeetz sought a payment partner that would give it the means to achieve its ambitions. "Above all, we were looking for alignment in terms of values. As a SaaS solution, hyper-modern and hyper-innovative, we needed a partner with this DNA and vision," recalls Alexandre Martin, who continues: "We considered both Stripe and Adyen, but ultimately chose Adyen for its abilities in terms of acquiring for on-site transactions." Considering that a museum still generates 70% of its sales on-site today, the on-site component of the payment solution was indeed essential.

Both internally and externally, the technical integration of Adyen went smoothly. By collaborating with the Smeetz teams, Adyen's experts were able to understand the internal workings of the platform and its way of managing monetary flows, thus adapting to its business model. On the client side, the transition to Adyen was seamless. With Adyen's support, the Smeetz teams were able to prepare all the necessary documentation to assist their clients in this transition. "For our clients, it was a somewhat hidden novelty, but one that would bring long-term benefits, particularly in terms of product development," says Jorge Lopes, Sales Manager for Smeetz.

"In addition to providing innovative payment solutions, Adyen goes further by offering personalised support and insightful advice. By leveraging its network of experts and partners around the world, Adyen helps us save precious time in our strategic decisions. It is crucial to be well-guided. In this sense, Adyen's global vision helps us convert growth opportunities and thrive in an ever-evolving digital environment," adds Alexandre Martin.

Working with Adyen has indeed allowed Smeetz to go further not only in terms of market development but also in terms of product development. In addition to optimising the online aspect of its ticketing platform, Smeetz has been able to develop a whole physical offering, including PoS and self-service kiosks. "Standardising our processes, particularly regarding the simultaneous deployment of payment terminals across different markets, has resulted in efficiency gains," says Jorge Lopes. Self-service kiosks have also been deployed in full compliance and efficiency. "We felt a real expertise at Adyen that guided our choices and those of our clients on this self-service kiosk product," adds the Sales Manager for Smeetz.

"Since the implementation of Adyen, our transaction volume has almost doubled annually." Alexandre Martin, CEO of Smeetz.

In addition to Switzerland and the UK, Smeetz has expanded into new markets such as France and Germany, until it is present throughout the heart of Europe. "For us, Adyen is clearly the best payment provider. Thanks to all the local European payment methods, we have really been able to scale up" rejoices Alexandre Martin. In Switzerland, where over 60% of transaction volume is done via TWINT, it was essential, for example, to be able to offer this payment method specific to the Swiss market.

Future projects abound for Smeetz. The platform plans to expand to the USA by 2026 and is already considering offering new features through Adyen, such as a cashless functionality via RFID bracelets, for visitors to easily make purchases in leisure venues. These are systems that have already proven themselves in the luxury industry. Thanks to Adyen Capital, Smeetz also plans to offer its users cash advances. Needless to say, the digital transformation of leisure venues is just beginning.