Positive Guest Experience
Question 1
The stadium offers various food and beverage options. There are organic foods that the stadium offers at a low price based on street-wise marketing. They include carrots and celery (Mercedes-Benz Stadium 00:20:34). Several other products are offered which include cheeseburgers, waffle fries, hot-dogs, pizza, nachos, and snacks. These are just mainstream fast-food products. The options for a vegan are not clearly stated but outlets are offering vegan and gluten-free products that will engage in a sale at the stadium. The prices will be set at similar levels as at their food outlets.
Question 2
There are various foods and beverages offered at the Stadium at lower prices compared to competitors and the previous stadium. The pricing is on the individual as well as combination items. For beverages, a regular coca-cola costs $2, a Dasani bottled water is $2, a beer of bud-light is $5, and souvenir coca-cola for $4. For snacks, pretzel and popcorn cost $2 while peanuts cost $3. There are fan favorites foods and their costs are a classic hot-dog for $2, pizza slice, nachos, and waffle fries for $3, a classic cheeseburger is $5, and a chicken tender basket is $6 (Mercedes-Benz Stadium 00:08:07). All the prices are based on a fan-first menu pricing approach or street-focused approach that looks at appreciating the loyalty of the customers by offering them wholesome foods for a much less price.
Question 3
To improve the speed of service, the stadium has numerous food service points. The stadium has about 670 points of sale (Mercedes-Benz Stadium 00:07:47). Through an increased number of point of sale access points, the stadium can steadily and efficiently serve the large crowds that it is expected to attract. To enhance the operations, the stadium has developed a dedicated soft-drinks platform. This self-service point is aimed at allowing consumers to have as many soft drinks as they want while offering the simplicity of not queuing in the food line. In this way, customers can serve themselves faster and as many times as they want on soft drinks. The stadium also has increased its cooking capacity (Mercedes-Benz Stadium 00:07:59). As such, the organization will be able to keep up with the amount of food that is required by customers.
Question 4
Through the improved pricing and speed of service, Mercedes-Benz has been able to offer clients better services than other stadiums. Mercedes-Benz Stadium has enjoyed lots of high reputation on its food and beverage pricing. Over the duration of its 3-season operations, the stadium has reduced its prices two times. The first was a 50% drop followed by another 11% drop (Mercedes-Benz). As a result, the fans have rated the food and beverage pricing at number one. This includes an increased quality offer for guests, variety, speed of service, and the guest service. This shows a positive impact on guest service. Additionally, this has been experienced through better profit margins that have seen a 15% increase (Mercedes-Benz). This means that the stadium can sell more food at reduced prices and better service for better profits.
Question 5
The food and beverage pricing strategy at Mercedes-Benz stadium is having an impact on other stadia in the country at the NFL, NBA, and NHL levels. Notably, the Baltimore Ravens and Detroit Lions have followed the same pricing strategy (CBS News). This means that the food and beverage prices in stadiums across the country can be seen to drop in the next years. Some college teams such as the University of Texas has followed the same line of approach which has seen more purchases from consumers (CBS News). However, pricing is not the only aspect. The efficiency of operations is also being improved to meet the new standards that have been set. As such, the trend might see more stadia in the US having increased customer service efficiency in the food and beverage sector.
Question 6
One of the concepts that I have learned from this research is reduced pricing of food and beverage prices is directly proportional to the increase in food and beverage sold to customers. As a result, there is a need to ensure that the increased demand can be catered for through efficient service lines. Efficient service lines look at having the operational model developed in a manner that looks at having efficient supply lines, cooking apparatus and capacity, and customer service models. The customer service model includes the ability to promote self-service for products that are easily measurable and automated such as soft-drinks. Also, the payment system has to promote faster service by utilizing a cashless transaction model that aims at having customers spend less time in the queue. Another concept that I have learned is that there is a need to ensure the customer’s responses are monitored, anticipated, and addressed strategically. By having a fans committee, Mercedes-Benz stadium was able to implement a food and beverage line that responded to the needs of the consumers. In turn, this led to better food and service lines for the organization that has a positive impact on the consumers and the organization’s profit margin.
Works Cited
CBS News. Mercedes-Benz Stadium stopped ripping off fans at the concession stand and sparked a revolution. 2019. Retrieved from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mercedes-benz-stadium-5-beers-and-2-hot-dogs-why-mercedes-benz-stadiums-radical-pricing-worked/
Mercedes-Benz Stadium. New Mercedes-Benz Stadium Unveils Revolutionary Food Pricing. 2016. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gATiZKelNto&feature=youtu.be
Mercedes-Benz. Popular items reduced by 11 percent. Web. 2019. Retrieved from https://mercedesbenzstadium.com/mercedes-benz-stadium-cuts-food-prices-second-time/