Revolutionizing the Stadium Experience: In-Seat Ordering at Sporting Events
ABOUT THE CLIENT:
The Challenge
Using mobile devices to order food and drinks from your seat at sporting events was introduced a decade ago. But user uptake has been slow, driving less than 5 percent of concession payment volume in recent years. Today, however, the trend towards a mobile, on-demand economy is revitalizing the decade-old concept.
Over the years, Softjourn, has developed APIs for restaurant platforms, expanding its ability to serve new restaurant clients and improving the guest experience on different types of venues.
Many sporting events organizers want to make it easy for fans to purchase food and beverages without missing any of the sport action. The most obvious solution is associated with ordering items directly within a mobile app.
The Solution
The need for in-seat ordering at sporting events is more pressing than ever. As consumer demand for digital ordering grows, in-seat food delivery solutions are becoming essential for venues and stadiums.
These solutions not only offer convenience but also promote safety by reducing contact and maintaining social distancing. Fans no longer have to miss out on the action while standing in long queues for food and beverages.
Instead, they can order directly from their seats via a mobile app, ensuring they stay engaged with the event. This approach is not only beneficial for fans but also for venue operators, as it helps manage crowds and enhances the overall event experience.
Furthermore, a survey found that 77% of fans express disappointment when in-seat ordering isn't available, highlighting the demand for this service.
In-seat ordering is no longer a luxury but an expectation, and meeting this need is crucial for the future of sporting events.
The Benefits
In-seat ordering comes with a lot of benefits for both event managers and patrons.
For event organizers, in-seat ordering can help with:
- food planning and management as they know how many people orderd certain type of food so there will be enough for everyone
- increased customer enjoyment on the event
- collection of data to understand user behaviour
The Result
Softjourn enhanced a restaurant platform to accommodate the requirements of sporting event organizers, creating a custom in-seat mobile ordering and payment app. And, because Softjourn was able to use an existing web/mobile API, the server side required only minor changes—a development strategy that accelerated project delivery.
The Softjourn team completed this project in just six weeks.
To use the app, fans would:
- Launch the app, create a user profile and navigate to the order page.
- Choose a seat number from a preloaded list.
- Order and receive notification of the charge via email, including a copy of the order
If you are interested in adding in-seat ordering to your venue application - contact us!