We keep saying that 2020 is the year of in-venue mobile ordering, but it’s not just out of aspirations. By looking at the performance data at FanFood’s venue partners, we’ve uncovered some important findings about what facilities tend to be successful at in-venue mobile ordering, as well as where the trend of mobile ordering is going.
By the way, the answers may surprise you.
1. In 2019, FanFood’s college partners have seen the highest average order value on mobile, compared to other types of venues. It was around $21.
College fans seem to be loving FanFood — and that’s probably no surprise if you’ve ever been to a college football game and experienced how long the wait can be. Also, college students tend to already be familiar with many other mobile ordering apps, so placing orders on FanFood seems to be a no brainer for them.
One thing that’s been consistent across the board is that whatever the size and type of your venue, mobile ordering could help you lift that average order value throughout the season. That’s because fans tend to place larger group orders, or add snacks and drinks to their main courses with just one tap on the phone. As a result, our venue partners have consistently reported up to 25% lift in average order value on FanFood.
2. Minor league ballparks saw the largest sales and order volumes in 2019, compared to other types of venues.
Minor league venues are really hitting it out of the park when it comes to mobile ordering. While their fans may not be the typical millennial, tech-savvy fans as in the case of colleges, they tend to be larger groups of friends and families who find coordinating food ordering a hassle. That’s why many minor league fans would order express pick-up at concession stands on their phones while pulling into the parking lot, or place one single large order for, let’s say, a family of six.
3. Our 5th top-performing venue is — guess what — a high school with an enrollment of only 684.
Within FanFood’s top 10 best performing venue partners, 4 of them are high schools (the other six consist of 1 minor league facility, 2 colleges, 1 arena and 2 drive-in theaters). It’s proven that whatever the size and type of your facility, there’s one universal truth to fans and concession staff — convenience and efficiency always win.
As our 5th best-performing venue, Wimberley High School in Texas only has an enrollment number of 684. What we’ve learned by working with our high school venue partners is that there are many ways schools can use FanFood to increase fundraising revenue:
1. Fulfilling more and larger mobile orders to increase concessions revenue
2. Selling sponsorships to local and national businesses using the sponsorship assets that FanFood provides
3. Use FanFood for off-season use at cafes and canteens. Walker High School is now using FanFood at their school cafes, and offer delivery services to cars parked at the curb outside the school.
Special shoutout to the other 4 top-performing FanFood high school partners: Owasso High School, West Monroe High School, Vista Ridge High School and Vandegrift High School.
4. If a venue offers season tickets, season ticket holders always have a larger average order value compared to the general admission audience.
This holds true on both the collegiate and minor league level. We have consistently seen season ticket holders’ orders among the largest in basket size and highest in order value. In the college space, season ticket holders place orders that are 50% larger than general admission fans, while in the minor league space, that percentage is nearly 10%.
What works out even more perfectly is that season ticket holders are most likely repeat users who reap the most benefits out of the convenience of mobile ordering. In fact, user retention on FanFood has been increasing over time, as our backend data suggests. So if season ticket holders are the group of fans that you’d like to pay special attention to, mobile ordering may just be that piece of value-add that gets your venue to stand out.
5. Mobile ordering is not a sprint — your results will improve over time.
Whenever a new set of system or operational procedure is introduced, there’s bound to be a ramp-up period. We’ve come to learn that while there are venues that could see amazing results with FanFood during the first couple of games/events, more often than not the results improve over time as more fans pick up the app and the staff are familiarize themselves with the operation.
Looking at the breakdown of the order stats of the very first FanFood venue partners, we’ve noticed that across the board, the following metrics have improved over time:
FanFood venue partners that on-boarded in 2018:
Durham Bulls Athletic Park
Total sales increased by 854% year over year.
Total order number increased by 644% year over year.
Average order value increased by 29% year over year.
Ed W. Monroe Memorial Stadium
Total sales increased by 414% year over year.
Average order value increased by 19% within one year.
Dean E. Smith Center (University of North Carolina — Chapel Hill)
Total sales increased by 310% year over year.
Total order number increased by 346% year over year.
Average order value increased by 32% since 2018.
Owasso High School
Total sales increased by 15% year over year.
Average order value increased by 16% over one season.
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Whether the findings are surprising to you or not, one thing is certain: regardless of the size, type and setup of your venue, mobile ordering is the way to go. And every venue can find their own way to maximize the benefits of the platform.
Luckily, the FanFood team is always here to provide hands-on, end-to-end support to help each venue find their own groove. Be it pre-game day consulting to identify the best concession stand setup, pickup locations and marketing opportunities, to real-time game day support, to post-game analysis and debrief, we’re aligned with your goal to succeed in the mobile ordering game.