Lines at Fiserv Forum’s concession stands this season could move much quicker thanks to a new point of sale system arena operators say will be a “game changer” for food and beverage sales and overall customer experience.
The Milwaukee Bucks recently installed more than 300 digital displays and card readers, which will be fully up and running by the team’s Oct. 26 home opener. With a tap-and-pay option and no need for signatures on a paper receipt, the technology cuts transaction times by 15 to 17 seconds, said Justin Green, vice president of hospitality at Fiserv Forum.
Green and Bucks president Peter Feigin on Tuesday led the media on a tour of the one-year-old arena to showcase several improvements made ahead of the upcoming NBA season.
Fiserv Forum’s new POS system is made by Sunnyvale, California-based Clover Network Inc., which is a subsidiary of Brookfield-based financial services technology developer and the arena’s naming rights sponsor Fiserv Inc.
Green said the partnership has allowed the Bucks to implement what’s considered an unprecedented change for a first-year arena.
“You don’t see a brand new building make a change as large as something like a point of sale system in its first year, but we did it to impact the guests in a really positive way and you will see that transaction after transaction,” Green said.
Fans will also have new cupholders at seats on the east and west portions of the bowl. Those previous 3,500 cupholders were too shallow and wide to securely hold some of the drinks sold at the arena. It wasn’t long before customers complained about drink spillages, so the Bucks patented its own cup holder sleeve as a replacement, Feigin said.
“It was an issue that affected a large percentage of our customers,” he said. “Not to have your cupholder be functional is one of those unacceptable things.”
Other improvements to the arena are not so obvious, such as refinished flooring on the entire upper concourse as well as a new and improved variety of sweet treats at the Candy lab, also on the upper concourse.
On the premium and event side of operations, the Bucks recently transformed a suite-level storage room into a speakeasy-style event space for business meetings, private parties and other events. Located on the north side of the building, one wall is entirely made up of floor -to-ceiling windows offering a view of State Street below.
Finding the time to implement some changes was a challenge considering the arena’s busy calendar, Feigin said, but the work was necessary for continued efforts surrounding a high level of customer experience.
“We’re so excited about going into our second year of operation,” Feigin said. “This is about constant improvement, this is about how we’re investing in our fans and in our customers and taking the experience to the next level.”
Fans can also find a number of new food and beverage items at the arena’s concession stands this coming season.
