In 2022, Wallis Cinemas became the first Vista Group client to embark on the Vista Cloud journey. Departing their previous on-site servers and software was a big shift for Wallis, but from their first step, as Ben Huxtable, Wallis Cinemas CEO explains it, “Once we made those infrastructural changes, it’s been an exciting matter of unlocking more capabilities of Vista as we go.”

One of the biggest differences Ben noticed immediately was the accessibility of a centralized cloud system. “When you’re working across multiple sites as my head office team are,” he explained, “switching between sites to change key layouts, for scheduling, and everything, really saves time with centralized access.”

“I’m big on time management, so the time that’s saved through that centralization is really important to me.”

This reliability, availability, and the security that accompanies it, are all part of the Core Confidence that underpins Vista Cloud from the get-go, but Wallis have embraced new features at every opportunity. In the past year, they have relaunched their mobile app with Lumos, introduced the Living Ticket, and adopted Movio Cinema EQ.

But under it all, Wallis’ operations are empowered by the data and accessibility of a centralized cloud system.

Horizon makes Data Empowered decision making

With Horizon—Vista Cloud’s data warehouse and business intelligence solution—Wallis’s team are strengthening their centralized view of their cinemas with customizable reporting dashboards. The ability to view their circuit’s performance in the way they like to work and across all manner of metrics is empowering Ben’s head office team to make timely decisions that affect their operations, and to make those decisions based on actual performance metrics.

“The best part of Horizon for me,” Ben said, “is that we can look at sales-per-item, or per-ticket, per-site, and filter as much as we like through custom reports to make those informed decisions quickly.”

Even a simple-seeming use case is tempered by this data. “We review, for example, our candy bar lines every February,” Ben explained. With Horizon, the Wallis team can easily compare the sales of particular concessions across their circuit, or a per-site level, to further inform those decisions.

How data informs Wallis’ programming

The ability to make informed and performance-based decisions quickly extends throughout Wallis’ operations, too. “This kind of data is very useful for our programming teams. They’re making day-by-day decisions all the time, decisions on how many sessions we should have of Deadpool & Wolverine, etc.” Ben said. “They can do that much more easily now.”

Wallis Cinemas’ programming work extends beyond their immediate sites. As part of the Independent Cinema Association in Australia, they provide programming to a significant number of independent cinema sites. “Vista’s role in that is actually very important, because Vista Cloud allows us to export our programming directly to other Vista or Veezi clients. So basically: we programme, and they don’t have to worry about it.”

Innovation fuels cinema’s future

Like Vista, Ben believes that innovation is key to forging the future of the cinema industry. “I am heartened by the ongoing innovation and new features; it's why we chose Vista Cloud.”

With Cloud, Vista are able to deliver innovation faster than ever, from quality-of-life updates and fixes delivered effortlessly, to original new software like Oneview. Like Horizon, Oneview is empowering Ben with an easy overview of Wallis Cinemas’ performance at a moment’s notice.

“The beauty of Oneview,” Ben said, “is how easily I can look at the basic operational data. I glance at Oneview at the end of the week, and I can see box office, I can see spend-per-head, and I can look closely at how we’re tracking with food and beverage.”

That tracking of food and beverage performance is of particularly great value to Wallis. Like many modern cinemas, F&B is as important for their business as box office. In fact, F&B has shaped a number of their upcoming developments as Wallis is looking to enhance and expand F&B service at multiple sites using Vista tools in the next six months.

“Lumos is a very important part of that project,” Ben explained, as their team are looking to integrate new functionality such as table service via QR codes, refined kitchen functionality, and more. “There’s lots we’re excited about. I’m excited to see Lumos Web activated, and the Living Ticket excites me.”

Wallis are truly embracing the opportunities of Vista Cloud to their fullest.