The role of digital in BOUNCE Inc. physical-first experience

Across its Australian venues, Bounce welcomed more than 2.5 million guests last year with plans to double its footprint and enter new markets in the coming years. To achieve it, Bounce is focused on delivering a customer experience that maximises the time visitors spend on its core proposition – inspiring movement, self-expression, and human connection. 

Simon McNamara, co-founder and CEO of Bounce, says that, first and foremost, a high standard of customer service is vital to attract and retain customers. He’s given the 1,200-strong Bounce team a mission to bring the love by engaging customers face-to-face, inspire progression by improving people’s skills and grow the tribe to create a loyal following. 

McNamara explains that while Bounce offers a physical experience, it strives to make the end-to-end customer journey as frictionless as possible. He sees technology as an enabler, streamlining visitors’ interactions and enhancing customer interactions so guests can enjoy the facilities.

Getting people active, quickly and safely 

When visitors arrive at a Bounce venue, the objective is to get them active as soon as possible. McNamara says that this begins with online bookings, where the process is designed to reduce the steps a customer must take. 

“We have as few fields as possible during the booking flow and have a loyalty system so customers can create an account and log in to book quickly,” McNamara says. “That means when people turn up, they’re handed a wristband and socks and go straight to the activities in a seamless way.” 

When it comes to payment, the Bounce team is careful to cater for options at the checkout without offering so much choice it hinders the process. That’s led to Bounce introducing digital wallets alongside credit cards and is considering new payment methods that are both easy to use and in demand among customers. 

During the booking and purchasing process, Bounce takes a deliberate approach to collecting only the customer data it needs to support a fast check-in. McNamara points out that only names, email addresses and contact numbers are required, whereas more sensitive personal data such as credit cards and even dates of birth are not held by Bounce. 

According to McNamara, the business can harness other valuable data sources. He says customers are emailed a post-experience survey after visiting a venue. 

“We are getting huge amounts of data back from our customers about what they like or could be done better. That’s a great feedback loop for improving our customer experience, and we rely on digital channels to do that,” McNamara says.

Augmenting staff and customer experiences

Given that customer service is all-important for Bounce, the team is also finding new ways technology can help. McNamara says they are deploying new contact centre software that will use AI to simplify interactions between staff and customers. 

“When someone calls a venue, the software can identify specific keywords as the customer is talking and bring up accurate information on the screen in real-time for contact centre staff,” says McNamara. 

“This feature eliminates the need for manual look-up and presents information as you need it so customer enquiries can be addressed faster and by staff that may not already have that knowledge and experience.” 

McNamara goes on to say that integrating technology with human interactions also extends to some aspects of guests’ physical experience. This includes being in the early stages of using an augmented reality based system. 

“At our venues, we are physical-first but use technology more subtly. Our React feature creates an avatar projected onto a screen and mimics a person’s movements so they can see themselves jumping from mountain to mountain, for example. 

McNamara sees the business, and its growth, as an expanding platform to positively impact the health, wellbeing, and enjoyment of its many customers. While that might mean getting kids to put down their digital devices, the way Bounce uses technology means it also supports them in the background to become more active.

Simon McNamara, Co-Founder and Global CEO at BOUNCE Inc.

www.bounceinc.com.au