Specialty Coffee Retailer

Specialty Coffee Retailer March 2014

Specialty Coffee Retailer is a publication for owners, managers and employees of retail outlets that sell specialty coffee. Its scope includes best sales practices, supplies, business trends and anything else to assist the small coffee retailer.

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¬-ARCH¬¬¬s¬¬WWWSPECIALTYCOFFEECOM¬\¬9 Finally, we're thrilled to launch a new loyalty program this year called Caribou Perks. e loyalty program was built into our existing POS system, making it easy to integrate into our stores. We kicked o the program on January 2 in all our company-owned stores, and launched it in our 90 franchise stores in early February. It's the rst loyalty program we've ever had, and we're very excited about it. CoeeBreak: What inspired Caribou to launch a loyalty program? How does the program work? Vig: We wanted to take an opportunity to engage in a conversation with our customers in a new way. To make it a more personalized experience, we deliberately chose not to follow the most common loyalty card platform, in which customers are told they need to do A, B, and C in order to get D. Instead, customers earn rewards based on their engagement with the brand. ey may get a free beverage the rst time, and the next time they may get 50 percent o a food purchase. Rewards last for seven days in the customer's account. As the program evolves, we will be able to tailor rewards based on each person's individual interests and preferences. For example, if a person tends to buy a lot of beans, that person's next reward might be a discount o a bean purchase, while the next customer might be a pastry lover and earn a pastry item discount. CoeeBreak: How do customers keep track of their Caribou Perks? Vig: We try to make it as easy on the customer as possible. ey have the option of tying their loyalty card to a gi card, so they only have to have one card. If they aren't carrying a card, the cashier can look up their account by their phone number. When they register for the program, customers can decide if they'd like to receive text or e-mail alerts about their rewards. ey can also log into our interactive website to view the status of their rewards. CoeeBreak: How is Caribou promoting the new loyalty program? Vig: Our in-store team members are the primary promoters for us, sharing information about Caribou Perks with our customers in person. We're also reaching out to our customers via our e-mail database and our social media channels. And, we're oering customers a pretty big reward right away: as soon as they sign up, they get a free medium beverage. at's a great incentive. CoeeBreak: How are you measuring the success of this program, and how do you hope Caribou Perks will ultimately impact your bottom line? Vig: We had an enrollment goal for January that was surpassed within the rst week of the month. As of January 27, we have 150,000 people who have enrolled in the program. We have already surpassed the goals we had for the rst quarter. We're absolutely thrilled with these results. We plan on keeping the lines of communication open with our customers. We're already talking with them and with our store employees to learn what's working with the program and what can be improved. Because of the "surprise and delight" model of our rewards program, we will easily be able to make changes and enhancements down the line. Ultimately, enrolling in the program will give our customers more reasons to come to Caribou, which will help us meet our overall business goals. SCR T C P 90 F. QUICK FACTS Headquarters: Minneapolis, MN Founded: 1992 Locations: 306 company-owned stores; 267 franchise locations Employees: 4,893 Top-selling blend: Caribou Blend Additional products: Specialty baked goods, oatmeal, breakfast sandwiches 08-9 coffee break SCR0314.indd 9 3/6/2014 6:34:13 PM

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