By KELLY KULTYS

ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

Sodexo Inc, the food service provider for Fordham University, recently released a QBOT app at the start of the 2012-2013 academic year. QBOT is “the first app of its type that allows consumers and businesses to directly connect in a social environment, allows students, staff and community members at pilot campuses to find information and deals for campus dining and retail locations, according to as Rebecca Moore, the District Marketing Specialist for Sodexo.

Students with smartphone accessibility can download the app and then use it when they visit any of the Sodexo-sponsored places on campus. Students who have downloaded the app will receive offers and discounts through it. They can show these offers via the app at the cash register and then scan the QBOT app code at the register. Students will then begin accumulating points and purchases to gain access to exclusive deals. If they use the app frequently enough, students can become VIP members, which will give them even more exclusive access and notifications.

Right now, the QBOT app is in its pilot stages at 12 universities across the nation, including George Washington University in Washington, D.C.; Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, Calif.; Loyola University Maryland in Baltimore, Md.; Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY; Seattle Pacific University in Seattle, Wash.; University of Denver in Denver, Colo. and; of course, Fordham.

Sodexo decided to join with QBOT because of how much college students interact with their smartphones.

“Sodexo realized that this presented an opportunity to reach students and offer them campus dining rewards and special offers in an entirely new and more convenient way, so we partnered with QBOT,” Moore said via email.

Currently at Fordham, the QBOT app is available at SubConnection.

“Students [can expect the following] QBOT Rewards at SubConnection — VIP reward: 50 percent off any foot-long sub; two point reward: free fountain beverage; four point reward: 50 percent off check and a six point reward: free six-inch sub,” Moore said. “An additional benefit to the QBOT program is that loyalty rewards have become much more user-friendly.  Gone are the days when people had to carry punch cards or other tools to keep track of repeated purchases – now students can do it all on their phones.”

So far, during its early stages, students have been very excited about the app. It gives them an incentive to purchase more food on campus as well as allowing them to optimally use every dollar of their DCB. Sodexo and QBOT also are benefitting from the launch of the QBOT app onto college campuses.

“As Wendi Gretz, Sodexo’s senior director of field marketing said, ‘College students live their lives through their smartphones, so QBOT makes reaching and rewarding our loyal customers more convenient and effective.  This is a real game changer in improving the overall student experience,’” Moore said.

This app also allows students an easier way to interact with their food service provider and let them know what their preferences are.

“The QBOT app allows Sodexo to connect with our valued Fordham customers in a new and easy way,” Moore said. “We are also able to thank students and other customers who visit us frequently by offering them rewards and special offers.”

As previously mentioned, the app is currently in its pilot stage. When the app begins to expand and grow, it will be launched in other places and other Sodexo locations on campus.