Coffee cards are the most prolific loyalty program design of all time. They’re simple to understand, simple to track, and the reward is perfectly designed to appeal to the member.
With expanding usage of reusable coffee cups, combined with increased thoughtfulness about reducing waste, the coffee card is set to play a key role in saving the earth.
What are the bigger implications for loyalty design? Customers are being rewarded for, and showing loyalty to, a mode of ethics and ethical consumption that transcends individual cafes and has led to a new kind of loyalty network. Here at Loyalty & Reward Co HQ we’ve been trying out reusable cups and had our ears to the ground(s) for cafes that offer incentives for their use. Here’s what we’ve uncovered:
Rewarding Reusable Cup Use:
About Life Rozelle offers 10c off a coffee if customers BYO their cup, plus access to their free pop-up toast bar (yes, free toast!), a free coffee when you buy a keep cup, and the ninth coffee is free with their Score More loyalty card. They also have a BYO cup food & coffee combo deals for $5.70. About Life also encourage customers to stop for a moment and enjoy the café’s atmosphere and free Wi-Fi instead of taking away their coffee.
Tonic Lane café in Neutral Bay Sydney has banned disposable coffee cups, and offer double coffee card stamps for customers who BYO cup.
Responsible Cafes Network:
Responsible Cafes is a volunteer-run community-based organisation providing an online map for coffee drinkers to access cafes who provide discounts for BYO cups. To date 450 cafes and 26 councils are part of the Responsible Cafes network. Cafes decide how much of a discount they will offer for reusable cups. If you’re travelling outside your usual haunts you can always check the online map before you go.
Your Loyalty Card Replaced By SmartCup:
Frank Green take things a step further with their funky-coloured reusable SmartCup and CafePay mobile app, which lets you accrue loyalty points and special offers, plus connect with friends on The Facebook. CafePay allows users to link their SmartCup to their credit card after receiving a quick code from scanning the cup in their local café. They can then select a top up option – Manual or Automatic – with a minimum top-up of $25. CafePay includes a list of participating cafes, plus a map. Frank Green have also launched a Visa PayWave SmartCup that lets users pay for coffee and anything else with their cup. Users will sometimes struggle to find participating cafes in the suburbs, although there is a good collection in Sydney CBD – there is less penetration of the market with this model than the Responsible Cafes network.
The Point Of Engagement:
Cafes are choosing to engage with customers via their shared sense of responsibility to the environment, finding a strong alignment to the environmental aspirations of their customers. To design successful programs in this sense means connecting with something bigger than individuals and financial incentives – it’s about a commitment to community-based networks and the earth itself. Considering that disposable coffee cups are unable to be recycled due to their interior plastic coating there’s real advantages to bringing your own coffee cup – not just financial but a sense of being a part of a community that cares about the environment and our place within it.
Loyalty & Reward Co say #BYOCoffeeCup, or sit down and enjoy the moment.
Philip Shelper & Dr Kate Ireland
Philip Shelper is CEO of Loyalty & Reward Co, and a specialist loyalty consultant. He continually obsesses about everything to do with loyalty and rewards.
Dr Kate Ireland is CMO of Loyalty & Reward Co, and a tireless researcher who spends bucket-loads of time searching for the next big advance in customer engagement.
Loyalty & Reward Co are a leading loyalty consulting firm.
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