Fans visiting UK football team Leicester City’s King Power Stadium can buy food and drink without queuing up to pay.

Levy, the sports and hospitality sector of Compass Group, have introduced Tap + Go, a frictionless customer experience for stadia, with Premiership team Leicester City the first to benefit.

Coming off the back of the successful Market X Compass Ireland launch, Levy has partnered with US autonomous retail expert AiFi to take the concept one step further into the high volume, high footfall stadia market. This will let matchday fans make food and drink purchases without having to pay at a till.

As the first stadium in Europe to implement this technology, Leicester City will provide a streamlined customer matchday refreshment journey to its fans at King Power Stadium. Guests simply need to tap a payment card upon entry, pick up their items and walk out of the gates onto the concourse, where their card will be automatically charged, a process which takes a matter of seconds.

Utilising frictionless technology, Tap + Go, is operated via AiFi’s AI-powered anonymised shopper tracking, which recognises the products being selected by customers, before adding them to a virtual basket. Facial recognition is not needed, ensuring complete anonymity.

Checkouts will be replaced by the installation of contactless payment terminals connected to digital barriers upon exit, enabling fans to make purchases in a fraction of the time and with greater ease.

“The truly frictionless F&B purchase experience created through Tap + Go marks a major step forward for Leicester City and the fan experience at the King Power Stadium,” said Rak Kalidas, commercial director at Levy. “In an industry currently teeming with innovation, this technology is a fine example of how Levy stands out in taking the hospitality sector forwards further and faster. We are proud to be working closely with our venue partners to offer guests a revolutionary experience that goes beyond anything currently available in UK stadia.”

Combining a range of convenience and safety-enhancing techniques, frictionless systems have the ability to operate in a range of environments, including general concourse and hospitality areas.

“We believe that this will be a game-changer by making operations far more efficient, easier and exciting for everyone involved, and we look forward to rolling out Tap + Go across more Levy venues,” said Kalidas.

Leicester City operations director Anthony Mundy added: “We are constantly looking at new solutions to improve the stadium experience for fans. The launch of Tap + Go at our venue will enable us to take the fan experience to the next level by making it easier than ever for guests to purchase and enjoy our first-class food and beverage offerings. We are confident that our partnership with Levy will continue to make the future of hospitality accessible to our guests.”

And Jon Braithwaite, chief information officer for the Compass Group in the UK and Ireland, said: “As a business, we’re extremely excited that our focus and investment in innovation has allowed us to bring frictionless technology to this high traffic and high-volume environment – a European first in stadia and top-flight sports. Working with our customers and partners on step-changes such as this, significantly improving the customer experience, is a real passion for the Compass team.”