How to make a coffee shop successful with the help of a loyalty program
A coffee shop can become a very profitable business, but only if you know how to attract customers to it. And the easiest way to do this is to use an effective loyalty program.
Preparation for launching the bonus system
Before starting to create discount mechanics, you need to determine what advantages you offer your customers and why they should go to you. Maybe it's the tastiest coffee in town, a pleasant atmosphere or a wide range of desserts and fresh pastries.
In other words, find your unique offer to which you can direct your future loyalty program.
For example, if your coffee shop is famous for a wide selection of the most delicious coffee, the program can be that every tenth cup will be free for the customer.
In this case, the visitor will decide to go to you, and not to a competitor, even if he has to walk a little further.
Choosing the type of loyalty program
You probably already know your customers and their interests, so you can determine which program format will be most attractive to them.
The following options are most often used in coffee shops:
- Discount system - offer daily or weekly discounts on margin positions, increasing your income and attracting a large number of new customers.
- Reward system - invite customers to issue a reward card and give them points for every purchase they can spend at any time.
And in order to motivate visitors not to delay their next visit, use the bonus "burning" mechanism after a certain period.
- Stamp system - mark customers on special stamp cards, and when you accumulate a certain number of orders, make the next cup of coffee for free.
The main thing is to experiment. Monitor audience feedback, combine different approaches and mechanics, and of course, use non-standard solutions. All this will help you achieve truly impressive results.
Choosing a platform to launch the program
Of course, you can launch a loyalty system offline, simply by adding a discount percentage to your price tags, describing the conditions on menu holders or putting stamps on paper business cards. But with this approach, you most likely will not be able to attract a large number of new customers, and the value of such outdated approaches in the eyes of the audience is noticeably reduced.
A better solution would be to use the capabilities of modern loyalty programs such as EfirCards.
For example, with the help of our service, you can easily create and distribute virtual discount cards to customers - with a unique design and the necessary mechanics, as well as monitor the effectiveness of the program in real time. Your customers will not need any additional programs to store Efir virtual cards. Instead, they will be able to use the usual Apple Pay and Google Wallet wallets, which they already use for contactless payment with bank cards.
Building communication with the audience
Keeping in touch with your audience is an important part of any loyalty program. Inform customers about new promotions, the number of accumulated bonuses and cashback, and reconnect with regular customers who have not visited your coffee shop for a long time with unique offers, for example, a significant discount on the first cup of coffee.
Using EfirCards, you don't have to spend a lot of time: just select the desired audience segment, write a message and send it.
Another important element of communication is the setting of trigger geo-push messages. These are short pop-up messages that will automatically be sent to your customers who are near the coffee shop, inviting them to come and drink a cup of aromatic coffee.
A loyalty program is an effective tool that will help you attract new customers, retain existing ones and form an emotional attachment of the audience to your coffee shop. So if you're not already using loyalty mechanics, it's time to change that!
