STORES Magazine - September 2008 - (Page L16)

BIOMETRICS Membership Has Its Privileges Club uses biometrics to minimize liability and aggravation BY LIZ PARKS o one ever wants to say “no” to a customer, but sometimes you have to. Ken Arthurs owns Wolfendale’s, a party club catering to a college-age crowd in Indiana, Pa. The club’s policy is that everyone gets carded, whether they are “a regular or not a regular, age 21 or age 101,” he says. N Taking a hard line certainly helps protect Wolfendale’s from liquor liabilities, fines and lawsuits, but it also can hurt business — especially when the competition is not so strict. The challenge was capturing the data consistently without arousing any anger or resentment among regular patrons. “Having a good, reliable customer identification system isn’t just an underage issue anymore, it’s a liquor liability issue,” Arthurs says. But while he wanted to minimize exposure to fines, lawsuits – even the suspension of his liquor license – Arthurs didn’t want to create “a Gestapo attitude at the door or the bar.” So he needed a tool that would let the Wolfendale’s staff deal in a fast, friendly way with regular patrons who strongly dislike being carded each time they visit. Arthurs found FSS Secure-ID, a biometric fingerprint ID system from Biometric Solution, at a tradeshow three years ago. Biometric Solution is a division of Altoona, Pa.-based FSS, a developer of identification systems for schools and institutions. “When someone says to a doorman, ‘Hey, I know you, I know Kenny. I come here all the time,’ it’s hard to explain that you still have to card them,” Arthurs says. “But when we came up with the biometric program and we tied that into our VIP program, our regulars told us they felt that they have a better status than the average Joe walking in. Now we’ve eliminated the problems we used to have at the door.” Many regulars enroll in Wolfendale’s VIP club which entitles them to special privileges. Instead of paying a door fee each time they visit, VIP members pay an annual fee: $40 fee admits a member on any regular night, while the $50 platinum fee also admits members on nights when special events are planned (platinum members also receive extras like Tshirts or hats themed to the special events). All VIP members receive discounts on their drink orders. Wolfendale’s also employs a scanner to manually capture information from paper IDs (like driver’s licenses) from non-VIP customers. Not only have the scanner and the biometric fingerprint ID systems protected Wolfendale’s from liabilities, the biometric system has given the club a marketing tool that makes patrons feel special. “A lot of our customers use it to show off to their friends,” Arthurs says. The club earned a return on its investment “the first time we scanned a fingerprint,” Arthurs says. “Every night we’re open, we’re susceptible to fines. So we look at ROI in terms of how many fines can we prevent, how many lawsuits can we prevent.” It takes only two minutes for customers to register by providing their driver’s license number and expiration date, date of birth and either the left or right index finger for digital scanning. The system translates the electronic fingerprint into a mathematical algorithm, discards the print image and matches the numerical output to registered customer information. Once registered, VIP members can be admitted to the club in seconds. Scanner, POS, camera combo At Wolfendale’s, the FSS Secure-ID and the scanner technology interface with the POS system and a 32-camera surveillance system. That interface allows Wolfendale’s to confirm proof of age and how many drinks have been sold to each customer from the time they enter the club until the time they leave. WWW.LPINFORMATION.COM “Having a good, reliable customer identification system isn’t just an underage issue anymore, it’s a liquor liability issue.” – Ken Arthurs, Wolfendale’s L16 STORES / SEPTEMBER 2008 http://WWW.LPINFORMATION.COM

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of STORES Magazine - September 2008

STORES Magazine - September 2008 Contents Executive Editor's Page President's Page Office Depot Unveils First Green Store Dunkin’ Donuts Debuts DDSMART What Shoppers Think 10 Things You May Have Missed Numbers Worth Counting Full Price/Markdown Retail People Are You a Facebook Fan? RFID Concept2Watch E-commerce Supply Chain Marketing ERP Credit Web Optimization LP Vantage Point Newsbeat Cover Story LP Program Building Biometrics Industry Perspective Customer Service Site Selection E-Commerce LOEB Retail Letter Arts Update Point of View NRF News Retail Crossword Retail Industry Calendar Last Laugh

STORES Magazine - September 2008

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