Trencin plays 1. league in digitization too!

AS Trencin is a football stadium located in Trencin, Slovakia that participates in the highest Slovak football league. Eatster collaborated with AS Trencin to bring more comfort to their fans by enabling ordering during the whole match using QR codes on their seats. Each code sends the order to the nearest food stall at the stadium and displays the location of the customer to the staff.

We talked with Igor Schlesinger - the marketing manager of the club to give us his opinions after first few matches:

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Ordering during the match via QR codes made you pioneers not only in Slovakia. What motivated you to take this step?

We saw ordering refreshments through QR codes from seats as another service that could make the football match experience at the Trenčín stadium more pleasant. At the same time, we saw it as an opportunity to open up card payment options, not just the internal cashless system we currently use at the stadium.

Of course, we also wanted to slightly increase turnover at our buffets, since we realize that leaving seats during a match might be a barrier that prevents people from using our refreshment offer. So these were the main reasons we decided to use the EATSTER service.

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Did you have any concerns?

Our main concern was how this service would be received, and whether we would be able to communicate it effectively. There was also the practical question of how food would be delivered to seats in the event of a full tribune—whether there would be conflicts if, for example, someone sitting in the middle of a row ordered something. These were our main concerns when launching the service.

How did stadium visitors react?

The feedback from visitors has been positive so far. It’s true that we introduced the service in the last two matches of the previous season, when we were fighting to stay in the league, so attendance and use of the system weren’t high. However, the people who used the service appreciated it, seeing it as a club service aimed at them, simplifying the purchase process. So the feedback and reactions have been overwhelmingly positive, and so far we haven’t had any negatives regarding the concerns I mentioned—such as people being bothered by frequent orders and needing to get up because someone next to them ordered something. So the reactions are positive so far.

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And what about your staff?

The buffet staff are still holding back on their final thoughts, since it was only implemented at the first two league matches, which didn’t have large attendance. At the Euro21, it was fully occupied, but paradoxically there weren’t that many orders—there were actually more orders at the AS Trenčín matches. Maybe that’s because local people attending our home games are more familiar with the service than one-time visitors to Euro21.

In general, the staff isn’t against it. For them, the key point is whether it shows up in the number of products sold—whether the same number of people generates higher turnover. We’re still waiting for more data and comparisons, so we need a bit more time. They also see it as a service to people—if someone wants to pay by card and be served at their seat, they have that option. Like us, they’re giving it time and want to develop the sales system with us.

Did you introduce this during the UEFA U21 Championship—did you get any feedback from foreign fans?

Honestly, we haven’t received much feedback from foreign visitors. Attendance during Euro21, where the EATSTER service was available, was as if the matches were sold out, so people had the opportunity to use it. As I mentioned, it wasn’t used as much as we expected. Paradoxically, at AS Trenčín matches with four times fewer visitors, sales were as good or even better. So I’d be lying if I said we had any substantial feedback from foreign fans. Also, the teams we hosted—France, Portugal, Georgia—didn’t have that many fans in the stands. Apart from one match with Polish fans, most of the audience was local people from the region who came to watch the games.

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Is there anything you’d like to say to other football stadiums?

I’m not sure we’re the right ones to give advice to other stadiums. We’ll see. We see this as a positive step towards people, towards fans. I believe that, over time, people will get used to it and see it as a standard, as an increase in comfort, allowing us to keep them in their seats longer to watch football and what’s happening on the pitch.

Of course, we’ll be happy if it also increases theirconsumption at the stadium, but primarily, we hope it will contribute to a morepositive perception of AS Trenčín in their eyes.

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