Tap N Go™ & Reithoffer

On an otherwise ordinary day in November of 2019, a 2-year adventure began that would ultimately lead to the successful delivery of a full turnkey solution that fulfilled the vision and dream of Reithoffer Shows. What was this dream all about? A new, modern, ticketless customer experience where payments are made without human involvement and redemptions are accurately tracked, with granular data that would guide decision making– with, or without the internet being active on-site.

The excitement at the 2019 IAAPA’s opening day was electric. Price Chopper had recently identified a software partner to couple with its RFID wristband offering, and was eagerly awaiting the arrival of a kiosk to showcase at its booth for The Reithoffer family and all IAAPA attendees. The buzz around RFID and NFC technology was contagious.

The Reithoffer family had high hopes that the software platform would deliver on everything they had been searching for.

At this time, Price Chopper Inc. had been partnering and co-branding with the software partner to introduce software for cashless purchasing and access control. Choosing the partner after 3 years of evaluating all competing platforms, was not a difficult decision - the product was tried and tested at over 1,000 reputable events and festivals in Europe - and, most importantly, it was easy to use.

Price Chopper’s role for the Reithoffer project would be to manufacture and supply chip wristbands and cards.

At 8am that morning, Shara Pathak, President of Price Chopper Inc., received a call from the Software company’s President to inform her that the kiosk did not work, and worse, they were out of cash. Their last round of funding had not passed and they were no longer operational. At this point, all of Price Chopper’s marketing materials and social media were co-branded. Shara sat at her desk dumbfounded, as she looked at the freshly printed stack of RFID brochures for their IAAPA launch.

After much negotiation, the 2 companies reached a mutual agreement for Price Chopper Inc. to acquire the software company

“I will always remember that day because I knew that this was our chance to revolutionize the market. What I thought to be an absolute disaster, may actually be our biggest opportunity to shine.” says Shara.

And so, “TapNGo™” was born.

Aware of the outstanding debt to the Reithoffer family, and the opportunity to work with the market leaders, Shara asked them to give TapNGo™ the opportunity to build what they wanted with zero obligation.

“The vision of Rick Sr and his family was as precise as it was transformational, and I knew from the first call that we would be the ones to deliver it.” she recalls.

With the gracious help of Aaron Pederson, President of Saffire Ticketing, TapNGo™ enlisted Kiosk manufacturer LiveWire, to help them on the exciting journey to build and deliver a state of the art Self-Service kiosk.

One year later, TapNGo™ unveiled LiveWire’s kiosk, fully integrated with their system. It was the beginning of a partnership destined for success. The dream of Rick Sr. and Reithoffer Shows was finally realized!

Rick Reithoffer (Sr) & Shara Pathak at IAAPA 2021, Orlando, Florida.

Today Reithoffer Shows has 23 kiosks and growing. John Stoorza of Reithoffer Shows adds, “For years, our company had been looking for a solution to the many potential problems we face with customer service, staffing and loss prevention. Partnering with TapNGo™ to replace our paper tickets with kiosks and RFID chips was that solution. Since using the system we have been able to transition personnel from sales to customer service roles, increasing efficiency and the overall customer experience. The closed system they provide nearly eliminates loss and makes accounting quick and precise. We look

forward to working with them for many years to come and to seeing the TapNGo™ system become the industry standard.”

The platform is the most versatile of its kind in the industry, and has already been utilized by some big industry names this year, successfully processing over $7 million in transactions. With its proprietary MESH network, TapNGo™️ offers functionality that leverages the interconnectivity between devices without needing the internet, to enhance fraud control and other online-only functions.