New App Presents Oxymoronic Situation At CNE

This week, we have been exploring the world of plastic acceptance at Toronto’s annual Canadian National Exhibition fair. Complete with rides, shows, games and tons of food, the yearly tradition that marks the end of Toronto’s summer is one that is enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of visitors. As our blogs this week have shown, Canadian POS Corporation has taken a special interest in the noticeable absence of POS terminals in the Food Building at the CNE.

However, we’ve also noticed that many merchants in the Direct Energy Centre have taken to credit and debit card acceptance. Evidently, there is still room to grow as it relates to The Ex’s widespread acceptance of plastic. But because most food vendors remain “cash only” at The Ex, it doesn’t mean that they are behind the times in the world of technology. At least, this isn’t what Arti Patel says in The Huffington Post.

Last week, he reported that a new app, that people can download to their smartphones, allows CNE visitors to order food from vendors in the Food Building before they even arrive. That way, they can avoid standing in the long lines to place orders for their food. Apparently, ordering food via this app allows people to directly pick up their orders without long waits. Now, that sounds like an inventive idea!

“You are literally one step closer to your poutine balls,” writes Patel, “A new app called The Food Building will allow hungry and possibly angry CNE-goers a chance to skip long lines in the Food Building, and directly pick up their order. And anyone who spends a majority of their time eating at the Ex knows waiting in a long line is usually expected.” At Canadian POS Corporation, we couldn’t help but raise a curious collective eyebrow upon discovering this news.

This is the question on our minds: If food vendors at the CNE have adapted to such modern technology, why are they still not accepting credit cards and debit cards as methods of payment? We’re completely in favour of making the lives of paying customers easier. But, in our experience, providing payment options other than cash tops the list of ways to satisfy customers. You would think that savvy smartphone users would like paying with more modern methods.

Of course, that isn’t to say that everyone who chooses to use this new app will insist on using their credit or debit cards to pay for their food. But wouldn’t the app make more sense if it allowed for people to pay for their food directly through it? Patel’s article does not indicate that payment for food is made through the app. It only indicates that the food order can be placed. So, apparently, cash is still a necessity.

“The app is pretty simple,” he describes, “Download it on your phone (search ‘cne food building’ in the App Store), check out the menu selection at the Food Building and add your order to your cart. Voila! Once your order is complete and ready to be picked up, you can skip the long line of hungry souls. And while we love the idea of getting our food the quickest way possible, we only wonder if this will create an additional line of people waiting to pick up their food.”

To be honest, we’re wondering the same thing. If the new app doesn’t allow for people to pay online using their credit cards, then it doesn’t exactly save a lot of time, does it? We suppose it depends on how long those “app” lines are! Either way, it seems to be a bit of an oxymoron to say, “hey, buy our food using this new app!” while saying “we accept cash only” at the same time. A bit of an oxymoron, we think.

If you’d like to truly keep up with the times and make your business plastic-friendly, call Canadian POS Corporation at 1-877-748-2884 or email us at info@localhost.