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Virginia Tech, UVA report record-breaking initial adoption rates
Mobile food ordering has taken college campuses by storm in recent years, and at the forefront of the trend is mobile ordering app, Tapingo. And the company has perhaps seen no better adoption of its app than in the state of Virginia.
Since going live at Virginia's major state institutions, Tapingo has seen record-breaking launches on the campuses of the University of Virginia, in Charlottesville, and Virginia Tech, in Blacksburg.
At Virginia Tech, Tapingo's impact has been dramatic. Within three weeks of the app's launch in March 2017, 6,000 students had registered with Tapingo, making over 5,000 orders on the platform -- an early adoption rate that's unmatched by other Tapingo campuses.
“Student response has been great," Andrew Watling, Project and Training Manager for dining services at Virginia Tech. "A mobile ordering option was something that students had been looking for, and we knew it would take off.” A key benefit being realized by VT students, Watling adds, is having easier access to local food options when they want them.
Joining Tapingo's roster of Virginia campuses is UVA, where the app launched this spring. Within 12 days of going live, more than 2,800 UVA students had downloaded and registered on the app. Aiding the overwhelming adoption is a large roster of local UVA locations at which students can place mobile orders.
“We’re excited to see Tapingo take off in these major Virginia schools,” says Michael Samuels, Tapingo’s Head of Growth. “Our launch strategy is designed to maximize usefulness from day one. We strive to ensure that every venue that is important to our students is available on Tapingo.”
While rapid initial adoption isn't a rare occurrence for campus deployments, Samuels admits that the early results at both Virginia campuses are highly promising. “We know that UVA and Virginia Tech students are tech-savvy, and we are very grateful that they’re finding Tapingo to be such a great fit for their lives right off the bat,” he says.
Tapingo enables students to, from their smartphones, order food from participating locations and then skip the queue by designating that order for either pickup or delivery. The app integrates with campus IT systems and makes virtually any tender available on the app, including meal plans, declining balance and flex dollars.
Since first launching at Santa Clara University in 2012, Tapingo has expanded its client base to almost 200 campuses across the United States and Canada. Moreover, the company reports that the average Tapingo user now conducts more than 100 transactions per year via the app. Tapingo also partners with major food-service provides like Aramark and Sodexo, as well as national restaurant brands.
