Pierce should incorporate mobile takeout ordering for the Brahma Cafe, cafeteria and the food truck by the South Gym.
Cal State, Northridge (CSUN) uses a free mobile app called Tapingo where students can order food and beverages from CSUN dining locations using a smartphone. Download the app, browse the CSUN Dining menus and place your order using credit, debit, or Meal Plan card.
The Tapingo app lets students place an order on-the-go and pick it up quickly without having to wait in line, which helps if they are in a rush to get to class. According to the Tapingo website, the app learns from students’ purchases to suggest frequent orders and make the process that much easier.
According to Tapingo, within months of launching the app, campuses have seen up to 40 percent of all transactions being made through the Tapingo system on any given day. The app will help increase revenue in dining locations at Pierce because students can quickly pick up their food and head to their desired destination without waiting in lines.
Tapingo is being used at 25 universities in the United States, including CSUN, University of California, Los Angeles and University of Southern California.
University of Arizona started using Tapingo originally to improve the speed of service and customer experience at dining locations on campus.
“With a student population just under 40K students, we often have lines at many of our venues and we constantly work to decrease the wait time,” said Jason Rex Tolliver, director of Arizona Student Unions at University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ. “Tapingo allowed us to do just that.”
Not only did it decrease the wait time at campus eateries, it also helped make money for the school.
“With Tapingo in place, we have seen an increase in our overall sales,” Tolliver said. “I have to admit that this was not our intent when we decided to implement. We simply wanted to better serve our students in respect to wait times. We have discovered that students who wouldn’t wait in line will use their mobile device to place an order. Overall it’s been a win-win for us.”
College students are great consumers to target for these kinds of apps because they are typically willing to try new technology, and they are looking to be more efficient. If a student has seven minutes between classes, he or she can place an order for a cup of coffee during the first class, run to the café and have it ready when they get there.
By using Tapingo, Pierce could make more money from the campus dining locations and help students get food or beverages faster if they are in a rush to get to class. The app is available for free in Apple’s App Store, Google Play and Facebook’s App Center.
