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Updating Your Stadium Commerce Experience

Simple updates to your stadium’s commerce experience can significantly improve your customers’ satisfaction while also boosting your profits. In the face of current trends and competition with at-home entertainment options, such updates are becoming essential for stadium operators rather than optional.With today’s proliferation of entertainment options coupled with health fears and tightening budgets, every improvement helps. Customers expect greater convenience, novelty, and value—luckily, there are several simple options to deliver all of those things while also improving your bottom line. Keep reading for strategic ways to update your stadium’s commerce experience.

5 Ways to Update Your Stadium Commerce Experience

Fortunately, there are numerous simple, affordable options you can implement to update your stadium commerce experience.

#1 Incorporate Point of Sale (POS) Technology

No one wants to get out of their seat in the middle of a show to wait in line for a hotdog. The situation can easily be improved by offering point-of-sale options. These systems are becoming the norm at restaurants and offer even greater potential convenience at stadiums, where customers could conceivably pay right from their seats or a close, easily accessible terminal point.Point-of-sale technologies come in four basic forms. They are:

  • Systems on the customers’ smartphones – Smartphone-based POS systems allow customers to order and pay from anywhere—including from their seats.
  • Desktop systems – Desktop systems are generally employed in centralized locations such as sales counters, essentially replacing face-to-face vendor interactions.
  • Self-service kiosks Self-service kiosks are great for allowing an easy flow of customers to grab convenience items on the fly.
  • Tablet systems – Tablet systems are often situated where the customer is, such as at restaurant tables or in show-viewing booths.

The various options offer slightly different benefits that are better-suited for certain situations. Rather than selecting one from the group, you might benefit most from a mixed bag of them all.Point-of-sale systems offer more than convenience. They:

  • Reduce crime by eliminating the need for customers to carry cash
  • Improve the quality of data collection that can be used to improve the customer experience
  • Reduce the spread of viruses by limiting close interaction

#2 Use QR Codes

QR codes are small but mighty tool that do a lot for your stadium. In addition to offering customers the convenience of simple pay-by-scan with their smartphones, QR Codes can be programmed to:

  • Invite customers to join loyalty programs
  • Reveal stadium messaging
  • Share promotions
  • Offer up selling opportunities

#3 Improve Signage to Increase Sales

This may seem like a low-tech update, but at least one study suggests it can make a significant difference in foot-traffic and it’s an update your customers want. The University of Florida found that 15.5% of sports fans wanted the flow of pedestrians at venues to be more streamlined (and less prone to crowds and bottlenecks).Though structurally changing stadiums is costly and often impossible, you can still achieve better pedestrian traffic through improved signage. Even better? Directed pedestrian flow can be used to help you strategically place self-service kiosks and services to maximize points of sales and therefore profits.

#4 Invite Local Small Business Vendors

Inviting local small businesses to set up temporary shops or booths can be a smart way to add novelty for fans while also bringing in some hometown flair. This option is particularly useful for smaller venues with limited sales options.Local businesses often appreciate the opportunity to connect with new customers. They benefit from an expanded customer base while stadium operators benefit from a no-cost variety of offerings and community engagement.

#5 Inform Fans in Real-Time

Using social media and custom apps, you can communicate with their customers in real-time. You can share:

  • Traffic advisories for fans en-route
  • Weather updates
  • Parking alerts
  • Updates regarding which entrances and exits are least congested

All of these little updates foster a personal connection with your customers while also improving their experience. It’s a holistic approach to updating your stadium’s commerce.

Go for the Gold with GoTab

In the competition against home-entertainment options, you will likely be searching for innovations far into the future. First, though, there are some simple approaches that range from low-cost to profit-improving. Whether it’s improving signage or using point-of-sale technology, you can update your stadium’s commerce experience today, with relatively little complication.GoTab requires no new software or hardware and focuses on making adoption easy for you. Developed by restaurateurs entrenched in the hospitality industry, we created our technology based on firsthand expertise. We understand your stadium’s unique needs and can bring your venue’s commerce experience into a whole new era of profitability for you and enjoyment for your customers. Reach out today and let’s talk about what kind of updates we can make to your stadium together.Sources: 

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Situated “in the heart of it all, yet tranquil enough to make you feel away from it all too,” The Limelight Hotel Snowmass offers 99 hotel rooms and 11 residences, as well as footsteps-to-gondola access in winter and summer — right in the middle of Snowmass Base Village.

The Situation

Especially over the last few years, the Limelight Hotels IT team had witnessed a significant shift to contactless technology in the hospitality industry. After evaluating friction points in the guest journey, aligning with modern technology platforms in their restaurant was determined to be an effective way to offer elevated contactless dining experiences to their guests while also evolving their technology platforms to continue to support long-term company goals. Limelight Hotel partnered with GoTab to provide an enhanced on-demand dining experience on par with the brand’s reputation for exceptional guest service.

The Solution

Reducing Staff Touch Points Without Sacrificing Guest Experience

Guests are now able to begin a tab from their room or the property’s restaurant by scanning a QR code, texting a link to friends or family members on the ski slope to add in their orders, then meeting up together at the patio or lodge to enjoy their meal and après ski festivities without interruption. By streamlining tasks like inputting orders and processing payments, this eliminates friction for hotel staff and allows them to focus on delivering renowned guest service for a memorable experience. Since partnering with GoTab, Limelight Snowmass has consistently seen higher check averages and sales.

“We found the Point of Sale platforms we were looking at offered the guest and staff limited opportunities to further reduce touch points or improve the traditional restaurant experience. The GoTab platform enabled the guest to take an active role over the flow of their experience while simultaneously reducing touch points and further streamlining restaurant operations.”Nick Giglio, Manager of Hotel IT Operations, The Little Nell Hotel Group

According to the Limelight Hotels team, some of the other platforms that were evaluated were either missing some of the pieces they were looking for, had weak customer support models, or had little willingness to develop integrations to existing hotel platforms already in place. To that end, GoTab integrated with cloud-based platform, Infor. Together, GoTab and Infor are providing dynamic solutions to support central, efficient service across hotel amenities and deliver exceptional guest experiences.

“Previously, guests would call down to the restaurant to begin an order from their room or while they were out enjoying the ski slopes. Using GoTab, guests can now place orders from anywhere on the resort, giving them the on-demand service they want without interrupting their day. GoTab empowers us to give control to the guest, reducing touch points and streamlining overall restaurant operations, making Limelight Hotel the resort of choice for Snowmass.”Nick Giglio, Manager of Hotel IT Operations, The Little Nell Hotel Group

Since introducing GoTab, The Limelight Hotel has seen a consistent level of upsells and items sold per check resulting in additional revenue capture. They have been able to maintain service levels in their restaurants during periods when there was reduced staffing available without significantly diminishing the guest experience.

The Benefits

Eliminate Phone Orders – Take Orders from the Slopes. Guests can start a tab from their room or on the mountain without interrupting the flow of their day.

Future-Proofed Technologies – Delivering elevated contactless ordering via integration with the Infor hotel management platform.

Eliminating Friction in the Guest Journey – Maintaining service levels during periods of reduced staff without diminishing the guest experience.

  • Eliminating Friction in the Guest Journey – Maintaining service levels during periods of reduced staff without diminishing the guest experience.
  • Eliminating Friction in the Guest Journey – Maintaining service levels during periods of reduced staff without diminishing the guest experience.
  • Eliminating Friction in the Guest Journey – Maintaining service levels during periods of reduced staff without diminishing the guest experience.
  • Eliminating Friction in the Guest Journey – Maintaining service levels during periods of reduced staff without diminishing the guest experience.

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