Dive Brief:
- Ampm has renovated its locations in Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles and T-Mobile Park in Seattle, the latter of which now offers new checkout technology, according to an emailed press release from retail solutions company GSP.
- Both stores, which reopened earlier this summer, were outfitted with a “retail environment design,” visual merchandising, logos and decor aimed to match each park’s aesthetic and atmosphere while still being recognizable as Ampm locations, according to the announcement.
- These renovations come a couple weeks after Ampm opened an autonomous location in Chase Center in San Francisco, where the Golden State Warriors NBA team plays.
Dive Insight:
While the store in T-Mobile Park was outfitted with checkout technology aimed at speeding up transactions, it still has some staff on hand to verify IDs for those looking to buy beer and wine. In addition to the alcohol, it also carries an array of snacks and nonalcoholic beverages.
The store in T-Mobile Park uses Mashgin’s technology, which uses computer vision to recognize items once they are placed onto a tray and automatically ring them up. The store in Dodger Stadium still only uses regular cashier checkout, a GSP spokesperson said via email.
Ampm’s T-Mobile Park location joins the complex’s four Amazon Just Walk Out locations.
Ampm’s autonomous location at the Chase Center uses AiFi and Verizon Business technology, which allows customers to scan their credit or debit cards at the entry, select the items they want, then scan those items to pay and leave.
Quicker checkout options have found a home in arena c-stores, where customers traditionally face long lines but don’t want to miss any of the action. Fans have said they would be likely to spend more on concessions if the wait was shorter and said 10 minutes was the maximum acceptable wait time, according to a 2019 survey by Oracle Food and Beverage.
Frictionless c-stores are also appearing in NFL stadiums. Automated checkout vendor Zippin rolled out four stores inside Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, and has increased that number to 10 for the upcoming football season.
Clearwater, Florida-based GSP provides print and digital marketing materials for more than 75,000 stores, along with design and remodeling services and more.
Ampm is owned by London-based BP, the oil giant that also its own branded stores, Thorntons, Amoco and TravelCenters of America.
Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that the Ampm in Dodger Stadium had updated its checkout technology. That store still uses cashier checkout.
