You can buy your beer and brat 15 seconds faster at Fiserv Forum, along with other updates

As Fiserv Forum impressed Bucks fans and concert-goers during its first year of operation, Bucks President Peter Feigin looked for the small things that still could be improved upon. 

That meant swapping out about 300 point-of-sale systems to improve concession speed by 15 seconds and replacing more than 3,000 cup holders to hold every type of cup sold inside the arena.

The Bucks also installed 55,000 square feet of new floor and sealant on the upper concourse level and added a private lounge. 

These improvements have been rolled out just over a year since the arena first opened at the end of August 2018. 

"What we've done is spent the last 12 months continually improving the product," Feigin said. 

Not only do the Bucks have fans to impress, but in less than a year, the Fiserv Forum will be the center of the Democratic National Convention. 

"The DNC will take over the building and they really have autonomy to physically change the space," Feigin said. "We aggressively — even knowing the DNC might change the footprint of the building a little bit — we continue to invest. And we know time is of the essence to really get stuff done." 

Faster points of sale 

The new point-of-sale system is Fiserv Inc.'s Clover system. It enables customers to pay using a debit or credit card or via Apple Pay, Google Pay or Samsung Pay, with the option of receiving digital receipts. 

Clover is easy for operators to use and card processing time is shorter than many point-of-sale systems.

"This change has been unbelievably impactful in our testing so far. We're seeing transactions 15, 16, 17 seconds faster," Vice President of Hospitality Justin Green said. "This is just a game-changer for us." 

The North Suite

One of the newest elements inside Fiserv Forum is a room available for rent on the north side of the building on the suite level, properly named "North Suite." 

The unmarked, speakeasy-inspired room is a storage-room-turned-event space that can accommodate 50 guests.

The room can be used as anything from a conference room to an event space. 

"It's really one of the hidden gems in the building," Feigin said.

Bucks patented cup holders

After the first game in the arena, the Bucks learned that about 3,000 cup holders were too small to hold a cup of beer or soda. 

The less-than-pint-sized holders are on seats in the east and west ends of the lower bowl. Those seats not only are some of the highest-priced for Bucks games, but they also need to be retractable for other uses of the arena. 

"We all sit in the arena and to not have your cup holder be functional is not acceptable," Feigin said. 

The Bucks looked to other stadiums for the right kind of cup holder for retractable chairs, but didn't find any.

So they created — and patented — their own. 

"The process was interesting," Green said. "We took every vessel that would go in a cup holder and made sure that it fit properly and wouldn't spill." 

Streamlined Candy Lab

The Bucks changed the Candy Lab to be a little more built out while making it faster and simpler for fans — and their kids — to make their way through. 

Most of the candy store items were pay-by-the-pound. Now, it is mostly prepackaged items with simple, rounded prices that children can more easily understand. 

"It was a lot of loose candy, by the pound. That wasn't up on consumers' needs and wants," Feigin said. "So this is a lot more easy retailing in and out, easy costing, and this is a destination for a lot of kids, so we look at how to make that experience very seamless." 

Concourse floors 

During Fiserv Forum's first year, Feigin noticed the upper concourse floors were already stained and worn out.

"It just wasn't aesthetically pleasing and it didn't meet our standards," he said.

So the Bucks refinished 55,000 square feet on the upper concourse.

"Some people might say who cares about the upper concourse, but this shows the real dedication we have," Feigin said.

How much did that cost?

"A lot of money," Feigin said. 

Jordyn Noennig covers pop culture and entertainment in Milwaukee.  Follow her on Instagram @JordynTaylor_n. Find her on Twitter @JordynTNoennig. Call her at 262-446-6601 or email Jordyn.Noennig@jrn.com.