Nearly 20,000 customers used the ‘Ritual’ app to make a purchase from a King Street restaurant for the first time during a February promotion that was launched amid concerns that businesses were suffering as a result of the King Street pilot.

The ‘Food is King” promotion provided a $15 credit to anyone who used the line-skipping “Ritual” app to order food from one of 40 participating business in the pilot area between Feb. 20 and March 4.

According to a news release issued by the city on Wednesday, participating restaurants saw a 707-per-cent increase in first-time Ritual customer visits during the first week of the campaign and a 1,062-per-cent increase in week two.

All told, the city says that ‘Ritual’ sales at participating restaurants were up $426,005 during the promotion compared with the average in the three weeks leading up to it.

In total, 19,863 customers made their first purchase at a King Street restaurant during the promotion, including nearly 7,000 people who had signed up for the Ritual app for the first time.

“The City of Toronto is always looking for new tools to support local businesses,” Coun. Michael Thompson, who chairs Toronto’s economic development committee, said in the release. “This partnership with TABIA (Toronto Association of Business Improvement Areas) and Ritual demonstrated an innovative new approach to promoting King Street businesses as we make sure this pilot achieves all our goals, including maintaining the street’s economic vibrancy.”

The city has introduced several initiatives to support businesses in the King Street pilot, including the “Food is King” promotion and a discount on parking in the surrounding area.

The news release said the “Food is King” promotion was a particular success with participating businesses recording a “sustained sales increase through April.”

The total cost of the program to Toronto taxpayers was $164,470 while Ritual chipped in $100,000.

During the King Street pilot, on-street parking spaces have been removed between Bathurst and Jarvis streets and vehicles are being forced to turn right at every block.

The pilot is geared towards speeding up streetcars along the busy artery.