Further to the feedback released earlier this week in relation to the ticketing procedures, we continue the detailing of responses to the recent ‘Fan’s Survey’ with the feedback highlighting the retail and catering departments at the club.
We have broken down the feedback below into each department, highlighting what the club is doing as action to the points raised, some of which have already started to be implemented.
It’s our ambition to host another ‘Fan’s Forum’ at the end of the season, as a way of gauging progress on the points and topics raised and to discuss new engagement measures moving forward.
Retail
The option to include a ‘click and collect’ facility when ordering items through brfcdirect.com was raised and has since been implemented and is available as an option when choosing a delivery method.
The stocking of kids and baby kits was discussed and it was communicated that this seasons kit is in stock across all sizes from babies up to adults.
The feasibility of a ‘pop up store’ in town was mentioned. The Club has looked into this and permanent facilities would be cost-prohibitive. We are keen to explore pop up options and have contacted local shopping centres for availability and options to look at in the future.
It was mentioned that it would be an idea to explore the concept of stocking and supplying ‘fans t-shirts’, which could be personalised. We are looking into this service to be able to take designs submitted by supporters and print them on-demand in-store. More details will follow on this soon.
Finally, on retail, the stocking of disposable raincoats and golf ranges was signposted. These are currently being looked into.
Catering & Bars
Supporters attending the ‘Fan’s Forum’ enquired about more variety in food offerings and kiosks. We are currently reviewing the catering offering across the stadium and may trial some new options ahead of the end of the season to gauge popularity.
The reasoning behind the change in pasty supplier was asked. Our previous supplier was no longer able to provide a fresh product. Frozen products require a longer cooking time and the new supplier was able to provide products of a high quality, as well as building a purpose-built kitchen facility to allow stock to be cooked on site at a significant investment. Without this, we wouldn’t have been able to serve pasties through the kiosks.
An enquiry was made to see if it would be possible to introduce a system to order food to collect at half-time. We have looked into options for this and continue to look at options used by other clubs to ease the congestion around the busy times on a match day. At present we haven’t found a system for this that we are convinced would improve service, in a cost-effective manner, but we will continue to monitor this situation.
There was a request for more pre and post-match entertainment. We are currently reviewing this area and we will be looking into plans to further develop this and increase the regularity of events moving forward, to build on the success of having live music in the Clubhouse Bar on a number of occasions already this season.
The queuing time in the bars was raised as an issue. We are trialing a new system that you may have seen at other sporting venues, where the pints fill up from the bottom called ‘Bottoms Up’. This will be available in the ‘Thatchers Bar’ for the Sunderland and Ipswich games on a trial basis. In addition to this, we are also trialing two-pint glasses in the ‘Thatchers Bar’, with a view to minimising queuing times.