The Challenge

MGM COTAI is a new Five Star luxury resort located on the Cotai Strip in Macau. The hotel recently played host to the 10th annual Oktoberfest Macau, a two-week celebration that pays homage to the food, beer and culture of Bavaria, Germany. Previous festivities were held at the sister property, MGM MACAU, attracted over 127,000 international guests throughout the past nine years.

Paper food and beverage vouchers were sold or provided to guests who attended the events.  While this form of payment offered some semblance of control, it was antiquated and delayed service. In search of a new and more efficient solution, MGM approached a number of vendors with a primary goal to replace the paper vouchers with a cashless solution. They had an existing POS which they wanted to maintain; therefore, the new provider must be compatible with their current systems. Second on the wish list was the ability to implement a traditional stored value program.

Our Solution

Expertise in stored value technology, an established global clientele, local representation in Hong Kong, and integrations with best-of-breed partners helped to differentiate Givex from other vendors.   

Givex’s pre-existing integrations with the hotel’s POS resulted in the quick installation of the new cashless program for the Oktoberfest event in 2018. 

Wristbands encoded with Givex numbers replaced the old paper vouchers. 

Givex provides access to a secure portal website that enables the properties to run reports, manage their card programs and track activity on wristbands. 

Givex provided us with great solution that covers the likes of small companies to enterprise. They have spent a great deal of time with big customers, fine-tuning their products to fit the needs of their customers across multiple industries. Their professionalism and ability to deliver is beyond exceptional, and that in itself is, to some extent, enough to make a selection of a vendor. For MGM, our journey with Givex has just started, and it has been a great start. We will continue to improve and implement new functionality to fit pending use cases.

MICHAEL DEHAAS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, DIGITAL AND TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, MGM

The Results

Encoded wristbands allowed MGM to maintain a standardized, efficient cashless payment solution for guests at an event where timely service was critical.

Wristbands also allowed the new and larger property, MGM COTAI, to increase the total number of Oktoberfest attendees. Despite the increase, guests experienced much shorter queues at the bar which resulted in enhanced customer service. 

Initial figures showed an increase in revenue compared to paper vouchers. MGM plans to use stored value payment for upcoming private customer events.

The traditional stored value card program will launch in 2019. Guests will be able to purchase cards online and at the properties, and redeem cards at all food and beverage and sales outlets on-site. Activations can occur for variable or pre-determined denominations.

Extensive Givex reports allow the properties to keep track of the performance of both programs. The data can later be used to evaluate and plan for future events and make critical business decisions.

“MGM is very critical of vendors and their performance. Givex is one of the few that delivered incredibly well and exactly what they promised. In Scope, on Schedule, In Budget!

We look forward to a long-term relationship with Givex!” 
– Michael DeHaas,  Executive Director, Digital and Technology Solutions, MGM