The Houston Rockets and their caterer Levy have opened two “Zippin Lane” checkout-free concessions stands at the Rockets’ Toyota Center, according to a press release from Zippin.
Announced earlier this fall, the Zippin Lane versions of its checkout-free stores — which are a prefab model designed to fit into previously empty or otherwise unused concourse spaces — are both quick to deploy and fast on ROI return. The so-called “drink lane” stands are typically smaller than other checkout-free stands, and focus mainly on fans who simply want a drink or a small packaged snack.
“Whether it’s to aid our players’ performance on the court or to improve upon fan experience at Toyota Center, the Rockets organization is always looking to innovate,” said Rockets president of business operations Gretchen Sheirr, in a prepared statement. “The Zippin Lanes will provide our fans and event-goers at Toyota Center with a seamless checkout-free experience and get them back to their seats as quickly as possible.”
Zippin has previously said the prefab Zippin Lanes can be installed into a venue in a week, a much faster deployment time than other placements that might include retrofit construction needs (like restructuring ceiling heights for camera placements). According to Zippin its turnkey design uses an average of 240 square feet per store. At Toyota Center, the stands are operated by Levy, the Rockets’ hospitality partner, and Levy’s innovation studio, DBK Studio. According to the announcement one stand is on the main concourse, and the other is on the upper concourse.
“We now work with 30 percent of the professional sports venues in the U.S. and they tell us the best thing about checkout-free technology is the ongoing ROI,” said Gary Jacobus, SVP of Business Development at Zippin, in a prepared statement. “Seeing the immediate value with increased throughput and revenue is compelling. We are now in the second and third years of many of our sports venue partnerships and they’re seeing these metrics continue to grow year after year in a way you just don’t get with other retail technology.”
According to our unofficial count, Zippin now has 36 stores using its technology announced or deployed at stadiums around the country, which puts it ahead of Amazon, which recently announced its 19th and 20th stadium stores which are at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. AiFi, another competitor in the checkout-free category, has said it has new stadium stores it will announce soon, including at NFL venues. AiFi recently opened a “drink lane” format store of its own in England, showing that the quick-deploy, limited-footprint version of these types of stands may be an increasingly popular option for venues.
(For more information, read our feature on checkout-free stadium concessions stands.)
