Boardwalk Games: from a spreadsheet per event
to a calendar entry
A trading-card game store that was already online and already found on Google. What ate the week was the event admin. An AI Assessment found it; a custom workflow removed it.
Before
Daily events, each one built by hand and checked in by hand. The store had a working Shopify site and a Google listing; the problem was everything that happened between "we're running Friday Night Magic" and a player sitting down.
- Sign-ups on paper, payment in store only — no way to pay online.
- One spreadsheet per event, every day there was an event.
- Staff retyped each player's name and game ID at check-in — a Magic ID for Magic, a Bandai ID for Bandai, different fields for every game.
- The owner built every event by hand: the calendar entry and the sheet.
What the Assessment found
Every event's spreadsheet asked for the same things in a slightly different shape. That meant the sheets could be templated per game, and the template could be filled by the customer at the moment they paid instead of by staff at the door.
The roadmap scoped one workflow: watch the calendar, create the product and form, route the answers to the right sheet. Nothing else needed to change.
What runs now
The owner adds an event to Google Calendar
Game, format, date, entry fee. That is the only thing anyone types.
The product and sign-up form appear in Shopify
A workflow running in the store's own automation environment sees the event and creates the Shopify product, with a form that asks for exactly what that game's sheet needs.
The check-in sheet fills itself
When a customer buys a seat, their answers land in the event's sheet. Staff verify at the door instead of typing.
The workflow runs inside the store's own automation environment and is theirs to keep.
Results
~20 hours / month
Owner time no longer spent building and managing events
15–20 hours / week
Staff time saved at check-in, across three people
$1,000–$1,300 / month
Staff time at $15/hour, before counting the owner's hours
Estimates gathered during the engagement, read conservatively. The dollar figure applies a $15/hour rate to staff time only.