It is the ultimate festival dilemma: do you wait until your favourite band have finished their set, or try and beat the queues to stock up on drinks? Well, those helpful folk at Apple Pay might have come up with the answer.
Life in the fast lane
Last weekend saw BottleRock 2018 music festival take place in San Francisco, USA, featuring Bruno Mars and Snoop Dogg, amongst others. Serving over 120,000 patrons in the Californian sunshine should have been thirsty work. However, in a pre-pay trial, Apple Pay was available at each drinks stand at BottleRock. Festival-goers could use dedicated ‘fast lanes’ and windows if using the new facility, rather than cash or a credit card. They could download the BottleRock app, choose the nearest drinks stand and select Apple Pay on their iPhone to order.
Changing habits
Users were promised that they could ‘skip the line’ by pre-ordering and then collect their beverages without delay. Apple told TechCrunch after the event that a promising 30% of transactions at BottleRock were made via the new system. Hence, the successful trial bodes well for Apple and could change customer buying habits forever. No wallet carrying, no fumbling with coins, or remembering your credit card password. More importantly, no lost time waiting in a distant queue, as you miss your band’s killer track.
We feel that this revolutionary ‘order ahead’ feature is the way forward and the BottleRock experiment points in the same direction. It is easy to see why, as everyone wins. The iPhone face-recognition and TouchID facilities remove the stress of queueing. Furthermore, the drinks vendors and Apple earn additional revenue, whilst happy music-goers get to spend more time watching music.
What do you think; would you prefer to order ahead, or be patient and wait in line? Tweet us @ AppleMagazine!