Spike in global pre-orders for contactless tap

More than 1200 companies, including some of Australia’s largest corporate offices, hotels, hospitals and aged-care facilities, have registered interest in Zip Water’s contactless tap — HydroTap Touch-Free Wave — following the product’s launch last month.

Hundreds of orders have already been secured for the product, with first installations scheduled for December.

Zip Water invented the HydroTap Touch-Free Wave earlier this year to meet shifting global customer demand brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. The innovative product is a contactless version of the company’s signature HydroTap, using in-house proprietary sensor technology to dispense boiling, chilled and sparkling water from the one system, touch-free.

According to a global survey conducted in July by market researchers Qualtrics, 74% of people working remotely through COVID-19 expect their employers to take action to make them feel confident about returning to work. In addition, 42% of respondents want their employers to focus on office hygiene when providing a pathway back to the office.

With contactless COVID-safe workplaces set to become the norm internationally, Zip Water identified this growing trend early to quickly deliver its solution to the market. Zip Water Marketing and Strategy Director Mike Abbott said that interest following the launch of the HydroTap Touch-Free Wave exceeded expectations.

“Back in April, we started to receive enquiries from some of our existing domestic customers asking whether we offered a contactless version of our HydroTap. When we received requests from our two key domestic specifiers in New South Wales and Queensland — who said many Australian workplaces were approaching them for contactless solutions — we knew we had to get something to market quickly.

“In response, we conceived, designed and developed the HydroTap Touch-Free Wave. Since we launched in October, we have had more than 1200 prospective customers in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom register interest, and of those interested, we’ve already secured hundreds of orders.

“The amount of orders we’ve received in the first few weeks alone is unprecedented, and many companies want to install the product before the end of the year to prepare for a safe return to the workplace in 2021. This has left us with a huge waitlist of orders to fulfil ahead of first installation in December.

“The response we’ve seen to the HydroTap Touch-Free Wave highlights the shifting expectations of our customers. It’s living proof that workplaces globally are willing to invest significantly in new health and safety measures in direct response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The success of the HydroTap Touch-Free Wave’s launch is another feather in our cap in what’s been an incredibly challenging year. We’re proud of how quickly we were able to turn the product around; from initial concept to the first installation, we were able to get the product to market within six months — a process that would normally take up to a year.

“The HydroTap Touch-Free Wave will be rolled out to other international markets throughout 2021, and we expect to see significant global demand for the product,” Abbott said.

Zip Water is manufacturing the HydroTap Touch-Free Wave out of its factory located in Condell Park, Western Sydney. This gives the company complete in-person oversight of every stage of the product design and manufacturing process. By manufacturing an in-demand product onshore, Zip Water is shoring up employment for more than 700 Australians.