Checkout-free stadium concession store technology provider Zippin has added eight new stores at four U.S. venues, including four new stands joining five previously installed Zippin stores at NRG Stadium in Houston.
According to Zippin CEO Krishna Motukuri all the new stands went into venues that had previously installed concession stands using Zippin checkout-free technology. In addition to the four new ones at NRG Stadium, Motukuri said Zippin has added two new stores at Petco Park in San Diego, where there was previously one Zippin stand, and another Zippin stand at Energizer Park in St. Louis, which previously had three Zippin stores. The last new Zippin store was deployed at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., which previously had two Zippin stores.
If you’re not familiar with checkout-free stores, here’s a quick primer. Customers are allowed to enter gated stores by scanning a credit card or some other pre-authorized payment method (including biometric methods using faces or palms). After entering they simply take the items they want and then exit. Payment takes place online after they leave the store. (For more details on how checkout-free works, please see our previous MARKET REPORT on checkout-free concession stands).
Checkout-free companies striving to make stores simpler, cheaper
At least one of the new stores at Petco Park is of a design Zippin is putting a lot of emphasis behind in its sales efforts, its so-called “Walk-up” store which blends a small bit of checkout-free technology with an existing belly-up concession stand. In a photograph of the new store, Zippin entry gates can be seen outside a short line enclosure, with the stand using grab-and-go type offerings situated atop the old belly-up counter.
Unlike other checkout-free stores that are full refurbishings of concession spaces, the walk-up stores are cheaper and easier to deploy, since there is no construction involved. Zippin’s top competitors in the checkout-free stadium concession space, Amazon and AiFi, have also developed similar low-profile stands for quick and lower-cost deployments.
“We’re constantly pushing the envelope to make [checkout-free] more attractive,” said Motukuri in a recent phone interview. “The new stores are robust, can be quickly deployed, and offer great ROI.”
Motukuri was especially pleased to announce that all eight of its latest stores opened at venues that were existing Zippin customers.
“It’s nice to get a vote of confidence from existing customers,” Motukuri said. “It lets us talk to new potential customers more confidently.”
Zippin closing gap with Amazon
According to our unofficial counts of checkout-free stores, the eight new openings closes a gap that Amazon had opened up over previous market leader Zippin last fall. Currently our tally shows Amazon still in the market lead with 100 checkout-free stadium-specific stores, while Zippin now has 96 such stores. AiFi, which opened approximately 40 new stores at the Intuit Dome when it opened in August 2024, has 71 stadium-specific checkout-free stores by our latest count.
While checkout-free stores were one of the hottest things going in stadium technology the past two years, there was a noticeable slowdown in new announced stores this past summer and fall. Amazon and AiFi also saw top executives depart their companies, with former vice president for Just Walk Out Jon Jenkins leaving Amazon last fall to become CTO at scooter and bike-rental company Lime. AiFi’s chief revenue officer Joe Jorczak left the company in February, with no new position yet announced.
Motukuri, however, said his company is seeing sales pick back up, and said he’s excited about the idea of making checkout-free more easier to use, like through integrations with facial authentication technology which Zippin has implemented at Denver’s Empower Field at Mile High.
