Celebrating Five Years of Redefining Campus Dining

Over the past five years, Apex Order Pickup Solutions has helped redefine the dining experience for students and staff on more than 50 college and university campuses across the United States. 

By introducing our smart locker technology to schools nationwide, Apex aimed to make the food order pickup process faster, more convenient, and far less chaotic for students, campus dining staff, and administrators. 

As we celebrate this milestone, we reflect on how our pioneering solutions have transformed campus dining across the nation.

Smart Food Locker Solutions Arrive on Campus

When Apex first launched its smart locker technology into the C&U space, the goal was simple: tighten up the final step of the order pickup process—the actual order handoff—in campus dining environments. 

Why?

Because traditional methods of placing to-go orders on an unsecured shelf, or repeatedly calling out a student’s name or order number had created long lines, inconvenient crowding around pickup areas, and disorganized order handoffs. 

This caused unnecessary frustration for students and wasteful, busy work for the dining staff. 

Apex changed that by introducing a smart solution that would allow students to pick up their meals quickly and securely. 

With no hassles. And no friction.

“The food lockers are helpful because we don't have to call out names and wait for the student to come,” said Lewanda Nixon, Retail Manager for Carolina Food Company, the campus dining program serving students at the University of South Carolina. “And I think the students love it because the food doesn’t get mixed up. They scan, grab their food, and go.” 

Wide Adoption Across U.S. College Campuses 

Apex order pickup lockers have been installed in a variety of campus dining settings—from university-owned cafes and dining halls, to national brand eateries and ghost kitchens. 

This widespread adoption is a direct result of the performance of the smart technology and the value it brings to campus dining operations.

“Adding the Apex food lockers at Rider Dining has been beneficial to the students and staff,” said Andrew Pignataro, Assistant Vice President of Auxiliary Services at Rider University. One of the first institutions to deploy Apex smart pickup locker solutions on campus. “It has that ‘wow’ for the students and gives them a great product.”  

Redefining the Campus Dining Experience for Students & Operators

For students, smart lockers have significantly improved the dining experience. 

No more time wasted between classes waiting in long lines or dealing with disorderly order pickups. 

With just a quick QR scan or a generated code they key in, students can retrieve their meals in less than 10 seconds, allowing them more time to enjoy their breaks or get to their next class. 

“I honestly like the convenience of it, and it’s really simple,” said one student from the University of Arizona. “It's so easy to just skip the line and go get your food. And, of course, no one can steal my food, I have a specific locker to go to.”

For campus administrators and dining service operations, the lockers have not only reduced labor costs by eliminating those unnecessary steps in the order handoff process, but also increased operational efficiency, leading to higher order volumes and revenue.

Lehigh University, for example, realized a 300% sales increase in one school year at a popular campus cafe after deploying smart lockers. 

“Needless to say, it’s been incredible,” said Jason Lenig, Director of Retail Dining for Lehigh. “The integration with Grubhub was seamless. And it eliminated all the problems we were talking about as far as bottlenecks and incorrect orders. It just improved employee efficiency and overall was a tremendous success.”

Easy Integration and Technological Innovation 

One of the key factors for the popularity of Apex’s smart locker solutions is their seamless integration with existing mobile ordering apps like Grubhub Campus, Transact Mobile, Tacit, and other platforms. 

“Our partnership with Apex gives operators the ability to create an end-to-end digital experience that customers crave,” said Cris Jucan, CEO of Tacit, “All while improving employee workflows both in front and back-of-house.”

This compatibility allows campuses to use the technology without overhauling their current systems, making the transition easy and cost-effective. 

Many campuses have even employed the technology as a springboard for innovation, launching new initiatives like ghost kitchens and hub-and-spoke systems to expand their dining services.

Data-Driven Improvements Provided by ApexIQ™

Beyond streamlining operations, Apex’s smart lockers offer valuable insights through its proprietary ApexIQ™ platform.

This data-driven approach allows dining operators to watch key benchmarks, such as product dwell times and the number of orders processed per locker. 

By leveraging this data, campuses can make informed decisions to optimize their dining services, ensuring that students, staff, and visitors are satisfied with their dining experience.

“This is just another level of metrics we can use to allow the back of the house to be very efficient,” said George Kuzma, Vice President of Business Development for Gourmet Dining.

The Next Five Years…and Beyond

The past five years have been a remarkable journey for Apex Order Pickup Solutions, and the impact of our smart locker technology on campus dining is undeniable.

As we look to the next five years and beyond, we remain dedicated to helping higher-ed institutions boost the dining experience for their students and staff.

To learn more about how Apex can help redefine your campus dining experience, visit our website or contact our customer solutions experts today.