Do Phone Charging Stations Increase Dwell Time? Data

Yes. In a GfK study run for retail charging provider ChargeItSpot, shoppers who used an in-store phone charging station browsed roughly twice as long and their average checkout total was 29% higher, with 54% more of them converting into paying customers (Forbes, 2017). The mechanism is not mysterious: a dead phone cuts a visit short, and a working one doesn't. The harder question for a venue owner isn't whether charging helps, it's which kind of charging amenity actually pays for itself without creating extra work for staff.

Why a dead phone shortens a visit

Retail dwell time and spend move together in general, not just around charging. Path Intelligence's widely cited retail analytics research found that a 1% increase in in-store dwell time correlated with a 1.3% increase in sales (via RetailSensing). A phone at 8% battery is one of the fastest ways to end that dwell time early. LG's 2016 "Low Battery Anxiety" survey of 2,000 US adults (fielded by Ebiquity) found that nearly 9 in 10 people feel panic once their battery drops to 20% or lower, and one of the specific coping behaviors the survey logged was people ordering something at a bar or restaurant purely to access a power outlet.

That last point matters for a venue owner: guests are already improvising a charging workaround on their own, usually by asking a bartender or server to plug their phone in behind the counter. A charging amenity doesn't invent new demand, it takes demand that already exists and turns it into something the venue controls instead of something staff has to manage ad hoc.

Guest experience: what a good charging amenity looks like

Not every charging setup delivers the same guest experience. A single cable taped to a wall socket, or a phone handed to a bartender to charge behind the bar, solves the immediate problem but adds friction: the guest has to ask, wait, and trust a stranger with their phone. It also ties up one outlet for one guest.

A dedicated powerbank sharing station avoids both problems. A guest taps a card at the station's card reader (tap-to-rent), pulls a charged powerbank from a slot, and keeps their phone with them the whole time instead of surrendering it. Brick's stations come in a tabletop format (Base, Core, Core+, sitting on a bar or counter, 8 slots stackable higher) and a freestanding format (Tower and Skyscraper, floor units for higher-traffic spots like malls and stadium concourses), so the amenity fits a bar top or a mall atrium equally well. Because a powerbank can be returned to any station in the network, a guest who leaves before it's fully charged isn't stuck bringing it back to the exact venue where they rented it.

Zero staff load: the operational case

The staff-workload angle is where charging amenities most often fail in practice. A box of loose cables behind the bar means staff has to plug phones in, remember whose is whose, and field "have you seen my phone" questions during a rush. That's real labor cost dressed up as a free amenity.

A self-service station removes that entirely. Brick's own case study of a station placed in a bar (Crazy Horse) recorded over 100 rentals a month, with guests typically renting a powerbank, using it at their table for about an hour, and returning it themselves. Staff at the bar reported the station eliminated the repeated "can you charge my phone behind the bar" requests; they could simply point guests to the station instead of taking custody of anyone's device (read the full case study). No key handoff, no cash handling at the station itself, no cable inventory to restock. That's the "zero staff load" part of the pitch: not that nobody ever notices the station, but that nobody on staff has to operate it.

Where this applies beyond bars

The same dynamic shows up anywhere people wait or linger with a phone in hand: restaurants (parties waiting on a table or a check), shopping malls (long visits, kids in tow, navigation apps draining battery), waiting rooms and transit hubs, and event venues where phones are cameras, tickets and payment methods all at once. The specifics change (a mall wants a freestanding station near a high-traffic anchor, a restaurant wants something small enough for a host stand) but the underlying trade is the same one covered above: a dead battery cuts the visit short, and a self-service amenity fixes it without adding staff work. Brick's shopping mall placements follow the same freestanding-station logic described above; see the mall-specific breakdown for how spot selection changes for that format.

What to check before installing one

• Foot traffic pattern. A station earns its keep where people already linger (bar seating, food court tables, waiting areas), not by a fire exit nobody walks past.
• Power and connectivity. Stations need a standard outlet and either the venue's Wi-Fi or a built-in SIM; confirm which the vendor requires before install day.
• Payment friction. A card reader that supports tap-to-rent removes the app-download step that kills conversion for a first-time guest.
• Who actually staffs it. If the answer is "no one," a self-service station is the right format. If a staff member is expected to manage cables or custody phones, that's a hidden labor cost worth pricing in before comparing it to a "free" cable box.

For the sales-pitch version of this from the venue's side of the table, including the specific angles that get a bar owner to say yes, see the five selling points for pitching a bar. For how Brick's own network works end to end, see brick.tech.

FAQ

Do phone charging stations actually increase how long customers stay?

The best available data says yes: a GfK study for ChargeItSpot found shoppers using an in-store charging station stayed roughly twice as long and spent 29% more at checkout than shoppers who didn't. Retail dwell time and sales move together generally too; Path Intelligence's research found a 1% dwell-time increase correlated with a 1.3% sales increase.

Does a phone charging amenity really need to be self-service?

Not legally, but the alternative (staff charging guest phones behind a counter) creates real labor cost and custody risk. A self-service powerbank station, where a guest taps a card reader and takes a powerbank themselves, removes both without losing the guest experience benefit.

What venues benefit most from adding phone charging?

Anywhere people already linger with a phone in hand: bars and restaurants (table time), shopping malls (long visits, navigation-heavy), waiting rooms, transit hubs and event venues. The format changes (tabletop for a bar, freestanding for a mall) but the underlying benefit doesn't.

How much staff involvement does a powerbank sharing station need?

None for day-to-day use. Guests tap to rent and return the powerbank themselves, and it can be returned to any station in the network, not just the one it was rented from. Staff at Brick's Crazy Horse bar placement reported the station eliminated repeated requests to charge phones behind the bar.

Is a phone charging station the same as an EV charging station?

No. This article is about phone and small-device charging amenities inside a venue (bars, restaurants, malls), not electric vehicle charging in a parking lot. They solve different problems on very different timescales.