Name: Amazon’s Just Walk Out Technology To Debut In Sports At Chicago’s United Center, More Coming
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Amazon’s Just Walk Out Technology To Debut In Sports At Chicago’s United Center, More Coming

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BETAThis is a BETA experience. You may opt-out by&nbsp;Mar 12, 2020,Concessionaire Levy calls it the concourse of the future, one where fans don’t wait in lines and have less “friction” in transactions. That future starts soon (the original March 16 debut date is now in limbo with COVID-19 arena closures) in Chicago’s United Center where Levy has partnered with Amazon to bring the company’s Just Walk Out retail shopping technology to a single grab-and-go location in the arena, the start of what Levy expects to be a varied and national rollout of the technology over 2020 and beyond.&nbsp;“Our first location is opening Monday, our second location is teed up to open two weeks beyond that and we have a rolling release schedule for 2020,” says Jaime Faulkner Levy’s CEO of its E15 Group, the analytical arm of the company, although that schedule is now in flux. “Ultimately, the goal is in two to three years the full concourse, or as much as possible, is completely frictionless.”&nbsp;Using the same technology Amazon has pioneered at retail locations in Seattle, Levy and the United Center have outfitted a grab-and-go market as the first in-arena experience with the technology. The design has fans entering the space through a dedicated location where they scan their credit card to establish a payment option. Once inside the space, fans are free to move around and select from the multiple beverages and popular pre-packaged food items, then can simply walk out through a dedicated exit location. The Amazon technology automatically scans the items, charges the card and emails a receipt.&nbsp;“It is a super-fast experience,” Faulkner says. “As soon as they enter into the location, they pick out whatever items they want and leave.”&nbsp;Levy plans to add mobile-enhanced options in the future, depending on the venue partner, to remove the credit card scanning step. “It will give fans the option to entire in whatever way works best for them,” she says.&nbsp;MORE FOR YOUIn 2019 Levy pioneered the cashless stadium in both Tampa and Atlanta and Faulkner says the Just Walk Out technology furthers the “focus of creating a frictionless experience for our fans.” Levy was proactive in searching new technologies to help with that effort and has worked with Amazon for over a year to make it a reality. While the Chicago debut offers grab-and-go, Faulkner says to expect a healthy mix of styles of uses — in both stadiums and arenas — moving forward, as the technology fits with market-style spaces, portables and even traditional concession foods. Levy also expects to have the technology ready for an in-concourse retail location this year.&nbsp;“The goal is to bring this to all locations where fans buy food and beverages,” she says. “We are already working on retail and other parts of the fan experience. Our launches this year will be a combination of clients popping up new locations that didn’t exist before or taking physical builds of fixed locations and laying the tech in, which could mean you don’t walk up to a counter at a concession stand anymore.”While Levy expects Just Walk Out to not only speed service and give fans a more individualized experience, it could also help traffic flow throughout the concourse by removing the lines that stretch into the path of fans. On average, fans wait 5 to 7 minutes in line just to get to a concession counter. With that eliminated and by redesigning portables and concessions, ease of movement on this “concourse of the future” increases. Faulkner says the new setups also allow Levy to use less space to deliver more products.&nbsp;“Now the waiting time is the time it takes to swipe your card and for it to be authorized and your shopping experience is how long you want to spend in there,” Faulkner says. “You can leave when ready. We believe it is going to significantly change the amount of time people will have to wait in line.”&nbsp;Levy says that in all designs, whether market, portable or concession, fans enter through a designated area, have freedom to move about once inside and leave through a designated exit point.&nbsp;“We’re excited to be working with Levy and E15 to bring our Just Walk Out technology into their stadium and arena concourse markets to help more shoppers enjoy checkout-free retail experiences,” says Dilip Kumar, vice president, physical retail &amp; technology at Amazon. “We hope customers enjoy how much faster and more convenient this makes refreshment time at games and events.”Faulkner says that as the 2020 rollout starts there will be learning involved, especially when the first concession stand opens and when dealing with the outdoor environment of stadiums. She calls it a “multi-year” journey of learning, but one she expects will turn the concourse as frictionless as possible. “We are going to be learning,” she says. “The great news is we have several partners on board in collaborating with us to figure this out. We have a lot of commitment across different leagues and venue types.”“Our partners all want to start in different places,” Faulkner says. “Some want to start with concession stands and portables and others want to get this out as quickly as possible, so they are finding open space to drop in a grab-and-go market. At the end of the day, across the board, they don’t want fans to wait in line any more than they have to ,so everybody is very motivated to bring this technology as quickly as possible.”&nbsp;.&nbsp;

BETAThis is a BETA experience. You may opt-out by&nbsp;Mar 12, 2020,Concessionaire Levy calls it the concourse of the future, one where fans don’t wait in lines and have less “friction” in transactions. That future starts soon (the original March 16 debut date is now in limbo with COVID-19 arena closures) in Chicago’s United Center where Levy has partnered with Amazon to bring the company’s Just Walk Out retail shopping technology to a single grab-and-go location in the arena, the start of what Levy expects to be a varied and national rollout of the technology over 2020 and...

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Amazon’s Just Walk Out Technology To Debut In Sports At Chicago’s United Center, More Coming

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