Your soft play is a great place for kids to explore, have fun, and burn off some energy (... loudly, if we're honest). Parents are coming to the venue of the back of perhaps a stressful morning, or with kids that have dailed excitement up to 11. Now ask yourself if you was in that suitation (as many of you likely find yourself), would you risk going somewhere you'd might not have space to get in?

Or would you prefer a place that takes bookings, so you know your child can have the best time possible? Bookings give customers peace of mind. Even if you haven't had many or any occasions that you've had to turn away customers, that doesn't mean the risk isn't at the forefront of parents' minds when making a decision on how to occupy their children today.

Taking bookings for your soft play also shows that you're organised and have a handle on things - two qualities that parents always look for. Being able to take bookings online is an added bonus that will make the whole process even smoother for your customers.

We've seen a huge growth in the number of soft play venues that have started to accept online bookings and we reached out to one to understand what made them make the switch

It just made sense for us to take bookings online. We want to make things as easy as possible for our customers and taking bookings online is a really convenient way to do that. It also meant that we could keep track of bookings and manage our capacity better.

You can use online bookings to get a instant idea of how busy your venue will be on any given day, and then staff it appropriately so you don't waste resources overstaffing or worse, understaff and receive bad reviews that may cause your business to earn a poor reputation.

It's simple to set up, and easy to manage. You don't have to do bookings only - and walk-ins can continue to be accepted. You're not changing the entire way you operate; you're giving your customers a way to get piece of mind. It's not hyperbole to say you'd have lost customers to uncertainty, and in an industry where every guest counts towards viability - can you honestly say you're OK with having some customers go elsewhere?

So there you have it, a few reasons why taking bookings for your soft play is a good idea! We hope this has been helpful and if you need any more convincing, just remember how annoying it is when you turn up somewhere only to be told there's no space. Now imagine being a parent with a child who's bouncing off the walls with excitement at the thought of playing... only to be turned away because there's no space. Avoid that scenario by taking bookings for your soft play!