As with thousands of businesses all over the world, Covid-19 stopped all business and caused uncertainty for ASAPP too.
A time when the world was in panic, we took time to stay at home, spend time with family, play cards and watch movies.
In all honesty, we were stuck. Live sporting events with fans and concession stands was a thing of the past... and we had no idea when it was coming back
We didn't know what to do. What we spent building for the past 2 years all of sudden had no place in the market. Do we sit and wait until sporting events come back? That seemed too long of a wait. So we had to adapt.
Although ASAPP’s main purpose was to enhance the experience for sport fans, we realized ASAPP’s design and functionality was suited for multiple venues and purposes. With a few design tweaks we had an app that was adaptable to the current situation.
Here in Qatar, with all restaurants and coffee shops being closed and no in seat dining allowed since March, several people would park their cars in front of their favorite coffee shops, and honk their car horns until heard or were left on a busy phone line when trying to call multiple times.
We spotted the pain on two ends; the customer not being able to easily and comfortably order from their car, and the coffee shops not having an organized operation and flow to manage orders under this current circumstance.
So with great teamwork with our tech team and persistence, we made some small and some bigger changes to the ASAPP system. Instead of entering your seat information, users were now prompted to enter their car information - car brand, color and license plate. In return, caterers were able to receive orders through the ASAPP Caterer application, set estimated pick-up times, and send live order updates to their customers. Customers were now able to select either the ‘Car Pick-up’ service or the ‘Walk-in’ service, and make safe and secure payments digitally through the ASAPP application, aiming for a cashless and contactless experience.
With our tireless work in shifting our application, business model and slightly tinkering with our brand, ASAPP is now back in the market operating at two Caribou Coffee locations, with many more on the horizon.
Excitement has brewed as we’ve found ourselves in an interesting position to adapt to the post Covid world, while maintaining our back-end to ensure we are ready to jump back into sport stadiums when it's safe and the time is right.
We are proud of our work and all we can do is try our best to provide the best user-experience possible when ordering food and beverages on-the-go. We appreciate your patience and support, and soon ASAPP will become the one-destination platform for food and beverage ordering at all venues and for all purposes!!
Be easy, ASAPP it.
