Research from the Omnico Group, the cloud-based POS and customer engagement solutions provider, suggests that theme park visitors will react very positively to robot waiters. In fact, 62% said they would spend up to four times more if a robot were to bring food and drink directly to them.
Average per capita spend on food and drink in theme parks and resorts is currently around $20. This might hit 52% if the park or attraction employed robotic waiters to deliver food and beverages.
These statistics come from the first Omnico Theme Park ROI Barometer. This report highlights the thoughts of more than 3,000 theme park visitors. Those canvassed were from the US, the UK, China, Japan and Malaysia. The aim of the research was to examine the impact of technology on visitor spend at the world’s theme parks.
Robot waiters could boost theme park visitor spend
62% of respondents said they would spend up to four times more on a food and drink order if it is delivered to their exact location by a robot. Furthermore, a full 36% said their spending would double with robots. 15% thought they would spend three times as much.
Mel Taylor is the CEO of Omnico. He said, “Our ground-breaking Theme Park ROI Barometer has uncovered some fascinating findings about the financial impact of technology. The research has grown out of our widely-respected Theme Park Barometers, which put visitor experiences under the microscope. But as parks embrace technological innovation, it is important to understand how investing in such changes will affect visitor-spending and ultimately deliver a return on investment.”
The survey also revealed that Chinese theme park visitors were the most enthusiastic about the prospect of delivery robots. 74% said they would spend more than double the average amount on food and beverages if they were delivered by robot. (Compared to 55% of UK theme park visitors).
Delivery robots no longer a Sci-fi novelty
“We know robot technology is on the march everywhere. However, this new research shows that its introduction for deliveries could send food and drink expenditure by visitors into the stratosphere. Delivery robots are no longer a Sci-fi novelty. Theme parks should therefore consider trialling them as part of a holistic, technology-centred approach to innovation.”
The full Omnico Theme Park ROI Barometer will be released in December. It will feature insights into the impact of queues on theme park visitor spend. It will also detail how investment in technologies such as mobile self-scan apps and self-service Kiosks can increase spend per head.
Download Omnico’s previous research, The Theme Park Barometer, here