Stuart WoodCashless providers Weezevent weigh in with some cashless expertise, and tell us why the technology is the future of festival payment.
What kind of growth have you seen in cashless festivals in the past five years?
An obvious one is increased use. In five years we have worked on over 400 cashless events, and that number is increasing to include many fixed venues (including football stadiums, rugby stadiums, leisure parks and street food markets).
There is an increased reliance on data generated from spending/consumption habits to adjust what products are offered.We have also seen increased integration with festival apps which benefits all everyone, and increased integration with sponsors.
What technology do you use, and why?
We make use of NFC wristbands and cards, integrated barcode scanners and NFC pairing devices, state of the art Point of Sale devices, and fixed access control boxes. Our read/write software allows for complete offline deployment with no local network required.
Our online solution also gives the added benefits of the live stats for the organiser and mobile access for the attendee. All the hardware we use is tested for battery life, durability etc and we only use that best suited equipment that works in the field. We provide the tools for organisers to be flexible and autonomous when setting up their event in the way they choose.
What are the benefits for visitors and organisers?
For organisers cashless is much more than a means of payment compared to contactless cards. It allows for offline payments, no financial limits (as you have with contactless cards) plus the spending information on each festival-goer. Furthermore you can also incorporate access rights, crew management, catering rights, brand activation and family accounts – all feeding back to our CRM tool to help analyse and improve the overall customer experience.
Organisers
Organisers can know which bars are taking how much money, and when – figures which can be tracked in real time. It is good for financial settlements, reduces fraud and mistakes at bars/ food outlets, and increases spend.
It also provides accurate data enabling detailed analysis of spending habits, and the ability to control age related products, such as alcohol to U18s. For those events offering a season ticket it allows for multiple contact points throughout a season.
Visitors
Visitors get a quick and hassle free service, which is more secure than using cash – you can lose cash easily. It is easy to get refunds for unspent funds, and a good way to budget, too.
Data
Cashless provides insight into customer spend/habits, providing important info for an organiser. Our system allows for live stats via our specifically designed dashboard. This is live pre-event showing top-ups. During the event showing spending, access control, top-ups. Post event for refunds. Traders and bars have tailored access showing data specific to them.