SwipeStation, a mobile app that allows fans to order food and refreshments at venues, has teamed up with the Leicester Tigers to enhance the match-day experience at Welford Road – and the Premiership rugby club is already starting to feel the benefits.
SwipeStation enables fans to order and pick up their food and drink in a quick and easy manner. Orders can be placed via the app from anywhere in the stadium, before fans pick up a receipt from a SwipeStation unit to collect their refreshments.
90 per cent said it was ‘simple and effective’
The club initially introduced the system in one stand but rolled out the trial on a stadium-wide basis during the February 17 match against Harlequins. It is hoped the initiative will help ease concourse congestion at Welford Road and improve the overall experience for Tigers fans.
“As with most stadiums, we experience ‘bottlenecks’ at certain times during matches due to the queuing and ordering of refreshments,” Chris Rose, Leicester’s head of brand, told TheStadiumBusiness.com.
“We were looking for catering solutions that would allow visitors to order from their seat, but also operate without Wi-Fi as an offline service. SwipeStation, we felt, was the strongest suitor for our needs.
“Fans reacted positively during our initial trial. During the game, around 90 per cent of fans asked said the experience was simple and effective and so it was important to follow this up with further developments.”
Last month’s match against Harlequins saw the Tigers run out 33-18 winners and there was reason for celebration off the field as well as on it as the stadium-wide roll-out of SwipeStation proved a success.
Average transaction tops £12
“Downloads of the app soared to 250 on the day and 60 per cent of the total transactions were repeat transactions,” Rose said. “Across the stadium, the SwipeStation ATV (Average Transaction Value) broke the £12 barrier for the first time ever. We spoke to a number of fans throughout the day who were delighted that the service was now stadium-wide and that they knew they could get served quickly and efficiently by using the new service.
“As we share our profits with our catering partner Centerplate, we’ve certainly seen an uplift on items produced. Ultimately, it revolves around bettering our match-day experience for fans and the club can be seen to be solving an issue for many supporters.
“Our goal is to cover the cost of installing and utilising SwipeStation so that as a club we are no worse off.”
Fans will be able to sample the service during Leicester’s three remaining home matches this season, and Rose is hopeful that the early support shown for SwipeStation will continue between now and the end of the campaign.
“As we’ve only launched the trial stadium-wide during one match so far, we are anticipating a reduction in queue times and we have already seen an improvement in spend-per-head,” he said. “We’re excited to see how the results look at the end of the season and we’ll be sure to update fans with our findings.”
Plans for a new hotel near Welford Road were revealed before Christmas and Rose told TheStadiumBusiness.com that the new development would incorporate a fan zone in a move designed to further enhance the match-day experience.
Leicester also recently launched a Tigers mobile app, through which fans can share photos, vote for their man of the match, follow live match commentary and access the SwipeStation service.
Images: Leicester Tigers
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