The Challenge:
One of Lehigh University’s most popular campus cafes, The Grind @ FML, is located on the main floor of the busy E.W. Fairchild-Martindale Library.
It’s a student-favorite for hot breakfast sandwiches, lunch fare, fresh baked goods and grab and go items.
Because of its location and popularity, high order volume combined with traditional pickup methods were causing big operational headaches.
“Crowding was becoming a big problem. Lines were getting longer,” said the university’s Director of Retail Dining, Jason Lenig. “Orders were getting picked up by the wrong student by accident. Maybe stolen. So, there were remakes that cost money. It was becoming a headache for employees. Both parties were getting frustrated.”
As the situation became increasingly unmanageable, Lenig, reached out to Apex Order Pickup Solutions for a solution.
“I’d heard about the impact of using lockers,” said Lenig. “And we were looking at different types of systems.”
Overall, just a tremendous success! I was really amazed how seamless it was with the students.
– Jason Lenig, Director of Retail Dining for Lehigh University
The Requirements:
Citing the university’s partnership with Grubhub Campus for mobile ordering, and the fact that 95% of Lehigh students have the app on their phones, Lenig required a solution that would integrate smoothly with the existing platform.
He also needed something that would eliminate employee inefficiencies, since staff were spending too much time calling out order numbers repeatedly and managing frustrated students wondering where their orders were.
These distractions wasted time and resulted in needless remakes when orders walked off with the wrong customers.
And with plans for a major renovation of its university center, Lenig said Lehigh also needed a scalable system that could handle increased demand across multiple locations.
The Solution:
Peter McNamara, an Apex expert on campus dining and execution, consulted with Lenig and university officials to design a multi-year plan.
The initial phase would deploy a bank of smart lockers at The Grind @FML.
And once that first phase was up and running, Lehigh and Apex would scale additional locker solutions around campus.
The lockers, like all Apex smart locker solutions, would integrate easily with Grubhub Campus, allowing students to use QR codes from the app for a smooth and secure order pickup.
“It was really amazing how seamlessly it went with the students,” remarked Lenig. “The majority of our students are registered in Grubhub, so having it there in the first place really helped with the locker integration.”
The Result:
300% Sales Increase | 98% Successful Pickup Rate
The new solution streamlined the cafe’s entire order pickup process.
Staff were now able to load orders quickly and then move on to other tasks. No more stopping what they were doing to handle unnecessary guest interruptions.
And since employees were less distracted and could focus on correct order preparation, there was a significant reduction in errors and a significant increase in order accuracy.
An Improved Customer Experience
Lehigh students and staff adapted quickly to the new smart locker system, finding the user experience intuitive and easy to use.
“I was really amazed at how the students adapted to the lockers,” said Lenig. “When we came back in the fall, I thought there might be a few bumps, but immediately they were using the QR code on the Grubhub app, and it was as if the lockers had always been there.”
Today, when they order via the Grubhub app, it’s received at the café, and an employee prepares it. Same as before.
But now, when the order is ready to be picked up, an employee takes it to the locker, scans the order ticket, and a compartment lights up, showing where to place that order.
Once the order is in the compartment, the employee presses “complete.”
The Grubhub app intuitively recognizes the complete order and sends an “order ready” notification to the guest along with a QR code to open the compartment.
When the guest arrives, they scan their code at the locker, the compartment containing their order lights up, the door opens, and they’re on their way in less than 10 seconds.
Incredible Increase in Sales
The lockers ease of use and reliability helped The Grind @FML realize an incredible 300% increase in sales for the 2023-2024 school year thanks to students trusting their food would be ready and waiting for them without issue.
Scalability and Future Plans
The success of the initial deployment locker solution energized the planned implementation of smart lockers at five additional locations in the new university center.
“Seeing the success we had with the lockers at our library cafe location, it was a no-brainer to implement them in the new university center,” said Lenig. “My only regret is not getting Apex involved sooner in the design phase.”
Lehigh and Lenig’s experience demonstrate the effectiveness and easy scalability of the Apex solution in enhancing campus dining services.
Needless to say, it’s been incredible. 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.
– Jason Lenig, Director of Retail Dining for Lehigh University
Apex provided Lehigh University with a reliable, efficient, and scalable automated order pickup solution that tackled major operational problems and enhanced the student experience.
The smooth integration with Grubhub, along with the outstanding operational and student satisfaction results, highlights the value of Apex’s smart locker solutions in today’s campus dining environment.
For more information on how Apex can improve your campus dining experience, just go right here.