New Tiger Express store uses AI and other technology to enhance shopping experience
Towson, Maryland (Nov. 1, 2023) — Towson University today announced the grand opening of Tiger Express. It’s an innovative checkout-free store located in West Village Commons made possible through a groundbreaking partnership between Zippin and Atrium Campus. Open 24/7, the store ushered in a new era of convenience offering round-the-clock, frictionless shopping to the entire TU community. It stocks a variety of essentials, including snacks, drinks, packaged meals, personal care products and more, ensuring students can find what they need at any time.
“The convenience offered by Tiger Express makes it easier for our students to purchase what they need, when they need it,” says Dr. Vernon Hurte, vice president of student affairs. “The unique shopping experience will cut down on long lines and wait times that students typically faced here.”
Tiger Express marks the first checkout-free college store to combine Zippin’s checkout-free technology with the Atrium Campus card management solution. OneCard holders such as students, faculty and staff shopping at the store can choose between paying with Dining Dollars or Doc Dollars. The store also accepts credit cards. This unique flexibility provides a more seamless experience than with other checkout-free providers that require a mobile app to shop.
Zippin uses AI-powered cameras and sensors to accurately track purchases, eliminating the need for a traditional checkout. While the technology is advanced, the shopping experience is simple. Students, faculty/ staff and guests simply enter the store with a valid payment method, pick what they want, and zip out. There’s no checkout line, no self-scanning kiosk, and no hassle. After shopping, receipts are available on the Towson OneCard portal or the Zippin microsite, depending on payment type.
“What makes our approach unique is our ability to give students complete choice in how they pay,” said Krishna Motukuri, CEO and co-founder of Zippin. “Through our partnership with Atrium Campus, Towson University students, faculty and staff can shop with their campus cards – something they use almost everywhere else on campus – and even choose between Doc Dollars and Dining Dollars. It’s a better checkout-free experience, which helps Towson University stand out as a technology leader in higher education.”
Store results prove the value of supporting campus cards. To date, 80% of Tiger Express sales have been with OneCards.
“Enabling campus payments at check-out free stores is another example of how Atrium Campus is reimagining the campus card experience for the mobile generation,” said Tammy Johnson, Atrium Campus President and CEO. “Through our partnership with Towson University and Zippin, we developed a solution that met Towson’s specific requirements and achieved their goal of providing a better commerce experience for their campus community.”
Tiger Express is not a new store. It’s been operational for several years and renovated into a checkout- free shop this year. Previously open 28 hours a week, it is now open 24/7 providing students with vastly improved access, including a door with direct access to outside the building.
“I really like the new store and it being open 24 hours is really helpful. I ran out of cereal once and was able to quickly get some more, even past the building hours,” says student Briana Francis ‘24. “It’s a really good addition to the campus and it’s super accessible.”
For media inquiries, please reach out to Jamie Abell, jaabell@towson.edu.
About Towson University
Towson University is Maryland’s university of opportunities. With more than 150 years of experience pushing possibilities, TU is a nationally recognized leader in inclusive excellence, social mobility, research and discovery. As the largest university in greater Baltimore, TU’s momentum is always accelerating, with more than 20,000 students and 100 bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree programs in the liberal arts and sciences and applied professional fields. Located amid one of the East Coast’s cultural and economic epicenters, TU is a beacon and powerful catalyst in the Mid-Atlantic, partnering with hundreds of businesses and organizations, impacting communities and fueling change. TU meets the holistic needs of each student to achieve success, a result of a deeply inclusive culture with a focus on equity among all students, faculty and staff.
About Atrium Campus
Atrium Campus powers campus card management solutions reimagined for the mobile generation for the higher education, senior living, corporate and government markets. The Atrium cloud solution encompasses closed loop payments, meal plans, declining balance, activities, physical access rights, mobile credentials, identity management and more. Learn more about Atrium at http://www.atriumcampus.com.
About Zippin
Zippin is helping retailers reimagine the customer experience by removing the friction of in-store shopping. Its checkout-free platform eliminates the checkout process entirely, giving guests back their valuable time and helping retailers run their stores more efficiently. With Zippin’s open architecture, new experiences like draft beer can easily be added to enhance the checkout-free shopping experience.