Why smart lockers are the best alternative to cloakrooms
“Staffing costs, lengthy queues, initial set up costs and limited flexibility are common frustrations and can be negatively impactful on busy events and venues.”
2 Jul 2026
Whether you are operating an event space, concert venue, theatre, museum festival or other guest attraction, providing visitors with a safe and convenient place to store their belongings and leave them free to fully enjoy their visit unencumbered by bags and coats has become an essential element of the customer journey.
For many years, cloakrooms have been the typical solution and the challenges they bring have been accepted as part of the operational process. Staffing costs, lengthy queues, initial set up costs and limited flexibility are common frustrations and can be negatively impactful on busy events and venues.
With customer expectations evolving and growing, more and more venues are looking for an alternative to a cloakroom, and are identifying smart lockers as a game-changing option. With integrated cashless payment technology, Bisley’s smart lockers are the perfect choice to improve visitor experience alongside reducing costs and creating new revenue opportunities.
The challenges of traditional cloakrooms
At first glance, a staffed cloakroom does seem like a straightforward solution, but behind the scenes they are typically resource-intensive and difficult to manage – especially during high capacity events.
Typical issues include:
– Long customer queues at peak times
– Inability to service multiple guests simultaneously
– High staffing costs
– Lost or damaged cloakroom tickets
– Bottlenecks impeding guest movement
"For venues welcoming high volumes of guests in a short space of time, these issues can quickly impact customer satisfaction. Today's visitors expect convenience, speed and a digital-first experience – waiting in a long queue to collect your coat or bag no longer aligns with their expectations and quickly evolves into frustration."
Rhys Owen
Client Operations Manager – Hawthorn and Kent
Reduce your staff costs while optimising service
Smart lockers facilitate easy and streamlined guest storage and retrieval, with guests accessible during their visit if they require. Bookending their visit with a pleasant experience, smart lockers allow guests to:
– Store coats, bags and belongings in seconds
– Feel confident that they personally have secured their possessions
– Avoid lengthy and frustrating queues
– Pay online with ease and enjoy their visit with no concerns about misplacing their locker key
One of the biggest operational benefits for venues is the reduction in staffing requirements. Traditional cloakrooms require multiple staff members to manage check-in, organise stored items, issue tickets and return belongings to guests. During peak times, staffing requirements often rise even further, as customer demand increases.
The congestion of the traditional cloakroom becomes a distant memory, with clever locker deployment working with venues to improve guest flow by allowing multiple visitors to store and retrieve items simultaneously. This allows guests to move through the venue more efficiently, reduces congestion and creates a smoother overall experience.
With Smart Lockers, space can be easily optimised, staff requirement can be reduced or redeployed to focus on optimising other areas of the experience and customers can enjoy and intuitive, easy and enhanced journey, increasing satisfaction scores and improving guest experience.
Increase your revenue and reduce your admin
Lockers are a great option for adding a revenue stream to your venue, and lockers equipped with integrated payment technology really elevate this opportunity. With built in payment ability as well as online payment via guests’ phone, they bring operational efficiencies and guest convenience, the automated payment process and cashless operation means reduced reconciliation time, accurate financial reporting and better forecasting for future events.
Scalable and flexible, with quick and easy installation and straightforward financial models, smart lockers are the perfect choice for venues looking to future-proof their operations. The modern day visitor expects frictionless, technology-driven experiences from start to end, and with digital ticketing and cashless payments already industry standard, smart lockers are the natural next step.
With Bisley Smart Lockers, space can be easily optimised, staff requirement can be reduced or redeployed to focus on optimising other areas of the experience and customers can enjoy and intuitive, easy and enhanced journey, increasing satisfaction scores and improving guest experience.
If you’re considering replacing a traditional cloakroom, are planning an event or manage a venue, now is the perfect time to explore how Bisley’s smart locker technology can transform the way your guests experience your venue.
