Cashless, and cashierless grocery stores, mixed with restaurants on campus give students a quick way to access meals when dining halls are closed. They also save on labor cost and help in labor shortages. The University of Denver opened a grocery and restaurant hybrid, a "Groceraunt" in 2024. It has seen great success, especially in sales of prepared grab-and-go meals. The milk shake and coffee stations are also very popular and generate more revenue at UD's groceraunt.

When the University of Denver launched its cashierless campus grocery stores last March, they included a robust array of grab-and-go items to accompany the stores’ fresh produce, snacks, microwaveable options, and more.

The shops, which are the first cashierless campus grocery stores in the nation, give students a quick way to access meals when dining halls and other campus food venues are closed.

UD's groceraunt is designed to be a frictionless shopping experience. Students gain access to the store by signing in on an app. Once inside, 150 cameras read their movements and record the prices of products they pick up, based on the location of each item in the store. Students are charged as they exit the unique facility.

Designer (12)
Sodexo works with colleges and universities to implement unique dining and food purchasing experiences, and helped the University of Denver with this launch.
Designer (13)
The coffee area at UD's groceraunt is popular and generates revenue, the self-serve coffee and chai station sells itself. The self-serve milkshake station is also very popular.

What Food Items are Most Popular?
The General Manager of UD dining says the store has been a big hit, and part of the success has been because students can use meal plan cash to purchase goods. He notes the grab-and-go items are especially popular, and the store sells at least 300 full meals per week on top of regular staple items. 

UD mixes up the grab-and-go options some, and have different themes at different times of the year. Sodexo orders different types of sandwiches and combos, plus specials like fruit and cheese plates, a yogurt station and different popular salads. The Greek and Southwest grill salads for example are especially popular at UD. 

The self-serve milkshake machine is popular — it can make up to six milkshake flavors and three smoothie flavors. So are hot meal options, such as breakfast burritos and fettuccine Alfredo, which are up about 20 percent since last spring. Students access Starbucks products through the company’s Serenade machine, a self-serve, automated unit. The array of coffee, chai and tea drinks pretty much sell themselves. 

The Cashierless Experience
This shift toward a more flexible and creative approach aligns with consumers’ shifting attitudes and behaviors surrounding delivery-based services. But how does the cashierless purchasing experience work? Guests start by scanning a QR code within a mobile app to enter store. As guests shop, cameras placed throughout the location track the items they choose and add them to a virtual cart. When the guest exits, the items are charged to the payment method on file within the app. Guests receive a detailed receipt on their smartphone within just moments of exiting.  UD sees that although Gen Z is tech-savvy, most still prefer shopping in a brick-and-mortar store. Plus on campus, its impossible to move an entire dining hall online. UD blends a cutting-edge technology with a familiar physical shopping to create a novel experience. The careful layout of this on-trend concept creates intuitive, seamless consumer experiences while optimizing convenience. It also expands categories to include hyper-local products, meats, organics, class supplies, over-the-counter pharmaceuticals and household goods, all now accessible in one place on campus. A simple yet elegant design creates a welcoming atmosphere that encourages guests to return, and a flexible layout makes it easy to execute a dynamic product mix strategy.  
See the full case study by Sodexo.

 

Sodexo offers managed dining and vending with customization options for colleges and universities. Sodexo goes beyond the dining hall by offering mobile ordering, delivery, next-generation vending, retail options, and more. Additional benefits include flexible meal and snack options delivered via digital technology including mobile apps, contactless payment options, and autonomous delivery robots. With Sodexo, campus dining has never been easier.
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