World Series winners LA Dodgers are one of five major US sports teams to have agreed new partnerships with mobile ordering specialist Appetize.
Dodger Stadium, the 56,000-capacity home of the team that won Major League Baseball’s (MLB) biggest prize this week, has integrated Interact, Appetize’s mobile ordering system, in 780 cloud-based point of sale (POS) terminals and handheld devices.
Appetize’s mobile ordering services have also been added at San Antonio Spurs’ AT&T Center, Sporting Kansas City’s Children’s Mercy Park, San Antonio FC’s Toyota Field, and Idaho State University’s Holt Arena.
The Los Angeles-headquartered group said Appetize’s Enterprise Commerce Platform, including Interact, is now used by over 63 per cent of major league teams in the US to run their food, beverage, and retail businesses.
“Since we first enabled mobile ordering at stadiums in 2012, Appetize has led the way with innovative cloud point of sale and digital ordering solutions,” said Appetize co-founder and chief executive Max Roper.
“Today, we’re proud to power the food, beverage, and retail business of almost two-thirds of US major league sports teams.
“Like many top venues we partner with, these five stadiums are making the move to a modern, mobile-enabled operating model that will continue to be commonplace long after COVID-19. We’re thrilled to work with them to improve the fan experience, both now and into the future.”
Appetize said it has been deploying mobile ordering at an increasing pace since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic as stadiums, arenas, and venues upgrade to contactless solutions for the safety and well-being of their guests.
It also claimed that Appetize mobile ordering has been shown to yield, on average, a 22 per cent increase in order size versus orders made at the point of sale.
The company said: “Mobile ordering minimises staff contact and improves speed of service by allowing fans to purchase concessions and merchandise directly from their phones. With Appetize Interact Mobile Ordering, guests can avoid keypads, touchscreens, and cash by using their phones to order and pay directly, whether through in-app mobile ordering or an appless mobile website.”
Through the new partnership, Dodgers fans can order food and beverage through their phones in the Dugout Club, Baseline Box seats and Home Run seats using the Appetize mobile POS system.
“Creating a contactless fan experience will be imperative to welcoming fans back to Dodger Stadium, and Appetize has played a major role in these preparations by optimizing our concessions and in-seat service offerings with contactless payment and mobile ordering solutions,” said Tucker Kain, Dodger president of business enterprise.
“Dodger Stadium has many unique challenges as a historic venue with baseball’s largest capacity, and we look forward to continuing to work with Appetize to evolve and modernize our amenities for the changing preferences of fans.”
Appetize’s existing partners include Texas Rangers’ Globe Life Field – where this year’s World Series was played – and a host of other teams and venues, including the Philadelphia Eagles and New York Yankees.
Images: Appetize
