Gettysburg College is leveraging OrderAhead, TouchNet's mobile ordering app for campus dining services, to provide its campus community with a means to place food orders with their smartphone. The app is being used to help Gettysburg students plan out meals from on-campus eateries in advance, and add a layer of convenience to campus dining.

With TouchNet OrderAhead, students can browse available campus restaurants and menus, place mobile orders, pay with the student OneCard or standard credit card, and earn loyalty points. On the backend, OrderAhead can help campus administrators by offering more control over traffic and capacity at dining locations.

The platform can be used to help identify dining trends or analyze history to maximize staffing, supply orders, and menu planning. OrderAhead features include:

• Full administrative control
• Seamless integration
• Optional loyalty programs
• Customizable reporting

For the freshest possible food, Gettysburg suggests that its students plan to order no more than 20-30 minutes ahead of the desired pick-up time. Students with an active campus card can select between meal exchange and Gettysburg's Dining$ tender depending on the store they are ordering from.

Using OrderAhead

To use OrderAhead, students need to first download the app from either the iTunes Store or the Google Play Store. After opening the app, students can select Gettysburg College from the list of campuses, and log in with their campus credentials.

Once logged in, students scroll through menu items and add them to their cart. From there, they can checkout by selecting either a campus card or credit card.

Once you choose your payment method and pay, OrderAhead will provide a wait time for the order. Students receive an "Order Ready" notification when food is ready to be picked up. Students need to bring their phone with the provided QR code for their order to ensure they collect the correct food.

The OrderAhead service also features a rewards component. Gettysburg students will receive 1,000 points each for rating the app in their select app store, linking a payment card, or adding a profile picture, as well as earn 10 points for each dollar spent on every order.

Students can use their points to join contests or use the points to redeem rewards. Rewards at Gettysburg include coupons for free drinks, apparel, and other items.