Safety and Health in the New Era of Live Events

Contributed by DC Ramsey, Director of Marketing

People in Line

Sports fans, concert goers, and casino guests—they all have something in common: the desire to attend live events and enjoy the unparalleled experience that in-person social gatherings can bring. It’s a powerful force, but how will venues evolve in the post COVID-19 world to address their guests’ new concerns and changes in behavior? There is only one certainty we know of right now – things will be different when we all return.

One of these new realities will be how consumers and operators view cash. “Paper money can reportedly carry more germs than a household toilet […and] can reportedly transport a live flu virus for up to 17 days.”[1] Looking at revenue credit card user spend up to 83% more than when they use cash to transact[2] . Transaction speeds are also increased, but there is still room for improvement to increase operational efficiency and limit the number of physical touchpoints for a transaction. That’s where cashless options, such as mobile payments and biometrics, come into play.

For operators, mobile initiatives have been a priority in order to best facilitate guest engagement, act as a communication platform, and enhance operational efficiency. For guests at venues, mobile adoption has been driven by incentives related to loyalty and rewards, convenience, ease of use, and familiarity and behavioral patterns established from their other digital purchasing experiences. Now, growing health concerns are driving accelerated adoption of contactless ways to pay.

Prior to COVID-19, approximately 50% of American smartphone users had engaged in mobile payments, with an expectation to grow to 90% by 2020[3] . Given the heightened concerns caused by this pandemic, we anticipate that number to rise exponentially, as contactless payments become a more attractive – and safer – option for consumers.

In the coming weeks, we will be sharing examples on how Venuetize is delivering solutions for the future of live events. This is a volatile time for the industries we serve, but Venuetize is committed to helping provide a safe and touchless experience for your guests in the years ahead.


 

[1] http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1914560_1914558_1914544,00.html
[2] https://fortunly.com/statistics/cash-versus-credit-card-spending-statistics/#gref
[3] https://www.marketwatch.com/story/this-is-what-a-mobile-wallet-could-to-your-holiday-spending-its-not-pretty-2018-12-03