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tapingo
Credit: Sam Holland , Sam Holland

A newly launched app that lets customers electronically order from any of Penn’s retail dining locations, for either pickup or delivery, is seeing success among students.

Tapingo allows users on Penn’s campus to order from Frontera, Beefsteak, Starbucks at 1920 Commons, Joe’s Café, Accenture, The Wall at Houston Market, as well as many off campus restaurants. Students have the option to pay through the app using dining dollars, Penn Cash, debit cards or credit cards.

Many students have enjoyed using the app because they no longer have to wait in long lines to get their food.

“It’s really cool because it lets me order food when I’m still in class and then [I] can have my food ready when I get here instead of waiting in line,” said College freshman Cabir Kansupada, who has used the app five times to order food from Frontera.

Since Oct. 4, students have been able to use the app to order ahead of time and then pick up their food. However, on Thursday Nov. 10, Tapingo began offering a delivery service for a small fee.

While Tapingo only came to an agreement with Penn and Bon Appetit last year, the company first contacted Business Services eight years ago. 

“At the time, they were still very small and didn’t have the best app, so we said thanks but no thanks," said Executive Director of Business Services Douglass Berger. 

After that, Bon Appetit Apetit -> Appetit and Business  Services began looking for an app that would provide an electronic ordering system.

“We’ve been wanting to do something like this for a long time, but we have been waiting for something that is affordable and worked well and could accommodate our needs,” said Business Services’ Director of Communications and External Relations Barbara Lea-Kruger. 

Under their current business model at Penn, Tapingo charges Bon Appetit a fee based on the number of transactions it processes.

Despite only operating at Penn for a little over a month, Tapingo has already built a sizable fan base with retail locations like Frontera and The Wall at Houston completing hundreds of orders from the app.

“It’s definitely a really convenient service because I don’t have to wait for my food” said College sophomore Joelle Goldston . “I’ve used it a few times at Frontera and Starbucks and it’s made everything much faster.”