As the 2024 sports seasons get fully underway, the revolution of the checkout-free stadium concession stand is continuing to add to its earlier momentum. Joining us on the Stadium Tech Report podcast is Steve Carlin, CEO of checkout-free technology provider AiFi, a company he said is looking at what should be a very successful year.
As the 2024 sports seasons get fully underway, the revolution of the checkout-free stadium concession stand is continuing to add to its earlier momentum. Joining us on the Stadium Tech Report podcast is Steve Carlin, CEO of checkout-free technology provider AiFi, a company he said is looking at what should be a very successful year.
To Carlin, the success of the checkout-free stores in stadiums is a pretty easy equation to figure out, since the fast transaction times found in such stores is of great benefit to both customers and operators.
“If you can reduce the amount of time it takes to go get your concessions from say 70 or 80 seconds down to 15 seconds, it’s a world of difference,” said Carlin, who also notes that fast transactions can convince fans to buy more since they know they won’t have to wait long in lines.
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On the ownership side, Carlin noted that most checkout-free stands show marked increases in sales per location when compared to the belly-up stands they replace, an easy ROI for operators to consider.
Brought in by investors
Carlin, who has been CEO of AiFi since 2022, was not part of the founding team but instead was brought in later by investors to head the business. With a long background in retail “classic package goods” and then focusing on retail automation while working with a venture capital firm, Carlin said “it was a natural fit to step in here to lead this organization.”
Carlin gave kudos to the AiFi founding team for designing a service that focused on solving a real problem — trying to eliminate shopping lines — instead of inventing technology first and trying to figure out how to use it later.
“I’ve been just focusing the team on our operational and commercial strategies and just bolstering those in line with what our our product can offer and the value proposition we create ,” Carlin said. “It’s been a lot of fun.”
One main difference between AiFi and its competitors in the market space, which include market leader Zippin and retail giant Amazon is that AiFi only uses overhead cameras in its stores to determine what items customers choose, while Zippin and Amazon use both cameras as well as electronic shelf sensors. According to Carlin, the camera-only approach gives AiFi more flexibility when it comes to potential store locations or layouts.
“I think that flexibility is our differentiator and it allows for a lot of potential,” Carlin said, claiming that AiFi’s systems can adapt to basically whatever size or shape a space a customer might want a store to fit.
Stadiums account for almost half of AiFi’s business
Like the other top checkout-free technology providers, AiFi also supplies technology for stores in other verticals, like airports or campus deployments. While stadium stores may not be open on as many days, Carlin said the density of a stadium environment makes it a good business opportunity.
During games and events, Carlin said the checkout-free stores in stadiums “see massive throughput which is a lot of commerce for the food and beverage operators. It’s an important piece of our business and we’ll continue to push there.”
Later this summer, AiFi will get a big publicity push of its own when the Intuit Dome is scheduled to open. Built by owner Steve Ballmer as the new home for the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers, the stadium is designed to do everything it can to keep fans cheering in their seats to provide a competitive advantage on the court. Part of that equation, according to Carlin, is making sure fans get food and drink quickly.
“We were just really pleased that that Steve handpicked us to be his partner in in this vision,” Carlin said. “We’re really excited about what 2024 has to hold at the Intuit Dome.”
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