IDEAS TO GO EXPLAINED
The Coffee Company app allows you to understand how the coffee subscription technology works. For example, a customer could pick up a coffee in-store, once per day. Here are the key user flows and features of the app:
Buy a subscription:
From the Home page of the app, the customer can go into the Shop section to find a subscription plan of choice and click “BUY” to purchase. After confirming the price (monthly auto-renewal price is also informed about), the purchase is completed and the user is directed to the Scan section to use the subscription plan.
A receipt of the purchase can be found under More – My page – Receipts. At every auto-renewal, another receipt is created and stored on the My page.
Please note that if the customer tries to purchase a subscription plan without having registered a payment method, she is prompted to register a payment method as part of the purchase flow (see below). The key aspect of coffee subscription technology is auto-renewal payment.
Use my subscription:
With an active subscription plan, the customer can simply click on “Scan to register” to use the plan. It is necessary to be in proximity of a participating store to use it (controlled by a store locator and set by a 100-meter radius). After scanning, a success message is presented to the user confirming “Thank you!” and that a receipt is available on My page.
If the user has exhausted the daily limit (e.g. once/day subscription plan, twice/day subscription plan) an error message is shown if she attempts to scan another time.
Buy a subscription – “Plan rebates” e.g. 1st Month 1/2 Price :
Plan rebates are defined as rebates associated with each plan, 1st month, 2nd month, 3rd month, 4th month. For each month a rebate can be set e.g 2nd month free or 1st month 50% off. The rebates are set by defining the discounted price of the plan for a particular month. This is set by plan allowing the same rebates across all plans or specific rebates e.g. on the best plans to motivate choosing the higher value plans. If the rebate is for the 1st month it is also clearly communicated in the «Please confirm» pop-up. A quarantine period can be set to avoid fraud.
Buy a subscription – “Promo codes” :
Use «Promo codes» such as FREE1ST500 obtained e.g. from Facebook ads or physical vouchers in-store to get personal rebates in campaign periods. Promo codes are not unique, but can have limited use (e.g. 500) and will be specific to a shop offer (or multiple) and only valid for a period from to. Only if there are one or multiple promo codes live the promo code pop-up will appear for the user. Click Skip if you don`t have a promo code.
Add up-selling to the subscription plan:
Register with the app:
Easy to sign up, only register your Mobile Number and Local Store, using the mobile number as a persistent unique identifier of the customer. This allows the customer a secure registration getting a one-time password via SMS to complete the registration.
Before registration is completed, the retailer’s terms and conditions need to be accepted. The customer then gives consents to the retailer who is the data controller (owns the customer data). Liquid Barcodes is the data processor.
You can also capture Name, Date of birth, Gender, e-mail etc in an automated survey once the user is in the app. You can motivate the completion of the survey by giving a birthday present to the customer as a simple way to engage on a personal level.
Register payment method (Card/PayPal):
The Coffee Subscription Technology app allows the customer to register payment methods such as credit cards or a Paypal account. The flow is part of buying the first shop offer (e.g. a subscription) and the user will be asked to register a payment method. Once a payment method is registered the flow is easier, click “BUY”, then “Confirm”.
Also, it is easy to find a More section in the app leading to My Page where Payment Method can be registered. The user can register the payment method from My Page, or edit it here.
Digital receipts – forward to e-mail:
Once purchases are made, digital receipts are available also from My Page and customers can easily send the receipt to their email. The first time (if e-mail is not already registered) the user will be prompted to register an e-mail address and then this will be stored on the member profile to allow automatic use next time.
Refer a friend:
From the Home screen of the app, Coffee Company promotes referring a friend to get great rewards. By clicking the banner the user arrives at the Refer a friend page where the current refer a friend reward is communicated in the bottom picture. Refer a friend rewards can be connected with the subscription program like illustrated “Get 1/2 price on your next subscription renewal” or it can be e.g. a free coffee voucher or a game with chance to win a free coffee. Confirmation is given on success (Invitation sent). The user is also notified if she is trying to refer an already registered member.
Upgrade my Coffee Subscription:
The Coffee Subscription Technology works best if retailers can offer multiple plans for different consumers. Customers can upgrade (or downgrade) the subscription simply by buying another plan.
If the new plan represents a higher value plan, it is an upgrade and the upgrade is instantly giving the subscriber the better plan immediately. The first-month price calculation for the upgrade will consider the existing plan`s remaining paid days vs. the price of the higher-value plan. Auto-renewal next month will be on the new plan’s list price. An upgrade can e.g. be from a “One coffee/day” plan to a “Two coffee/day” plan.
If the new plan represents a lower value plan this is considered a downgrade and the downgrade will be effective on the renewal date to allow usage of the already paid plan until the “Downgrade” date. A downgrade can e.g. be from a “Two coffee/day” plan to a “One coffee/day” plan.
Stop my subscription:
The subscription plan can be stopped via My Page and “Manage my subscription”.
Buy multi-user subscription:
The Coffee Company allows buying a multi-user subscription as well. Above this is illustrated with a “Friends plan” where two friends can share a plan of one coffee/day. Any combination of the number of users and the number of coffee/day can be combined allowing for friend plans, family plans, business plans etc. From My page you add the mobile numbers of your friends or family that you will share the plan with – and voila! they have the plan in their app as well.
Sharing vouchers:
From a marketing perspective, Coffee Company allows vouchers to be “sharable”. Vouchers can be purchased (in the shop), won (from playing games) or targeted (personalisation) . That means the user can easily share it with a friend or family member. By sharing the voucher app-to-app with other app users the friend or family member gets the Free Coffee voucher and this disappears from the user`s app. This creates a community between app users and word-of-mouth. If the user is trying to share with a user that does not have the app she is prompted to refer the friend first.
Share & care:
As a marketing campaign Coffee Company uses the “Share & care” feature. Here the app user gets the possibility to give away a free coffee. She does not get a free coffee herself, but she can give away a free coffee to a friend. By sharing it app-to-app with other app users the friend gets the Free Coffee voucher. This creates a community between app users and word-of-mouth. If the user is trying to share with a user that does not have the app she is prompted to refer the friend first.
Buy a single-use voucher:
Games:
The Coffee Subscription Technology product is often combined with other digital solutions. Customers could for instance win a free coffee by playing a daily game. Games can also be rewards like “Refer a friend reward”, “Sign-up reward”, “Birthday reward”, the reward for completing a Net Promoter Score (NPS) survey etc. Try this game by using the camera of your phone on the QR code.
The store locator section:
From the bottom bar of the app, the user can find the nearest store and navigate to the store by using the Apple Maps or Google Maps feature. The app will show distance as well as opening hours, and contact information and highlight services offered at the location.
The more section: My Page, FAQ, contact support:
The More section can include a FAQ section that links to any website, and a contact us section that opens up the e-mail user and sends it to the support office.
Find more about our subscription product.
Inspire yourself with some real examples of the successful launching of a subscription program. Last July 2022, Polish retail giant Żabka introduced a monthly coffee subscription program across its vast network of 8,800 stores.