Pine Scone Cafe
The Pine Scone Cafe in North Carolina have been using a digital stamp card for their two businesses for 4+ years. See how their rewards platform works!
Background
With two locations in North Carolina, Pine Scone Cafe is the area’s go-to coffee shop selling an assortment of delicious homemade scones and cafe beverages. From the tempting sounding blueberry white chocolate, savoury cheddar jalapeño to the unusual ‘Green Gobblin’ (Creme de Menthe and crushed Andes Mints) – they offer a scone for everyone!
At the start of 2017, Pine Scone Cafe approached us for a solution to not only help communicate and build a relationship with their customers, but also to keep them coming back for their tasty treats.
Initially starting with a loyalty program just for their Pinehurst location, they swiftly reaped the benefits of Stamp Me, and subsequently implemented it within their second cafe in Southern Pines.
They currently have nearly 800 users enjoying Stamp Me, with new customers joining their loyalty program regularly.
The Brief
Key Objectives
The primary objectives that Pine Scone Cafe were looking to achieve when they reached out to us about a loyalty program were to:
- Access personal information so their customers were no longer anonymous
- Motivate customers to come back to their cafe and make purchases
- Keep the Pine Scone Cafe front-of-mind for their existing customers
- Enhance the emotional connection between the cafe and their patrons
How the
Pine Scone Cafe
Loyalty Program Works
Pine Scone Cafe rewards customers for their purchases and motivates them to come back.
For every in-house prepared drinks purchase, the customer receives a stamp on their digital punch card, issued at checkout.
Once they’ve collected six stamps, a reward of a free scone is automatically triggered. The reward is stored on their account, ready to redeem on their next visit.
When the customer is in-store and ready to claim, they simply select the reward from their list, press ‘Redeem’ and show the cashier the moving voucher screen in exchange for a scone of their choice. The voucher counts down from 3 minutes and has falling confetti, so it’s clear to the staff it’s a real voucher, not a screenshot.
A custom picture of a plate of scones on their claim voucher also helps staff to identify the reward.
Once the reward is triggered (meaning the digital stamp card is full), the card automatically refreshes, ready for the fun to begin all over again.
Step 1: The customer receives a stamp on their Stamp Me app for every in-house prepared drink
Step 2: At stamp six, a free scone reward is triggered for their next visit!
Step 3: The customer shows the moving countdown reward voucher to the cafe staff
Step 4: Staff give the customer a free scone of their choice!
Promotion
In order to allocate stamps to their customers, Pine Scone cafe uses two stamping methods to suit different customer preferences:
Stamp Mate Device
A Stamp Mate, is a small plastic device that uses Bluetooth and NFC technology to automatically validate a stamp when a customer touches their phone on it.
Customers simply open the app, press ‘STAMP ME’, touch it for a few seconds and go!
Stamp Code
The other method that Pine Scone Cafe uses to allocate stamps is via a Stamp QR code.
The code is printed and positioned at the cash register. Customers open the app, press ‘scan QR code’ and position the camera in front of the code to get their stamp.
Displaying both of these stamp validation options is a great idea, offering a choice for the customer and a backup in the instance of experiencing a difficulty with one method.
Using a range of marketing techniques, Pine Scone Cafe really ensure people know about their Stamp Me loyalty program. They even use Stamp Me as a marketing tool to promote their business too!
Text Message
Pine Scone Cafe are big advocates of using our text messaging feature to regularly send out messages to customers to boost their sales on quiet days or to notify of upcoming promotions.
Conveniently coordinated from their Merchant Console, the text messages can be written and sent out in bulk in mere minutes.
Here’s what the cafe’s founder says about using the texting feature:
“On slower days we send out text messages via the app to promote double stamps that day or any discounting or specials we are promoting and it always generates business for us! It’s a very effective way to reach our customer base in real time and see immediate results.”
Join Cards
When the cafe is busy, or when a customer wants to join the program in their own time, the cafe hands out join cards.
These are small business cards with instructions on how to download the app, and a QR join code specifically for their business. Customers scan the QR join code through the app in order to sign-up to the loyalty program so they can collect stamps on their next visit (and not forgetting get their sign-up scone!).
In-store Posters
Advertising posters (which Stamp Me provide) are positioned around the premises, ensuring customers become aware of the program when they are enjoying their refreshments.
They are a simple and effortless way to let people know the program exists. Soft copies of marketing materials are available to display on electronic boards or screens.
Staff Ambassadorship
The staff at Pine Scone Cafe are awesome advocates of Stamp Me and make sure everyone knows about the rewards they could get if they join!
Asking something as simple as “would you like a free scone today for simply joining our loyalty program?” face-to-face with a customer at the cashier, is a sure-fire way to get people joined – who would say no!?
The enthusiasm the staff have about the program ensure that there is always awareness and excitement around their loyalty program.
How Rewards are Redeemed
Results
Since implementing our digital loyalty app back in 2017 for both of their venues, Pine Scone Cafe have continued to receive great customer feedback. They’ve found Stamp Me to be an essential part of their day-to-day business and marketing operations.
Thanks to Stamp Me, Pine Scone Cafe have now:
- Found a way to directly communicate with their previously anonymous customers through text messages, push notifications and more
- Built an emotional connection between their cafe brand and their customer by gifting free scones
- Incentivised customers to make repeat purchases at their cafes, instead of straying to a competitor
- Ensured their business stays front-of-mind for all customers
Start your Free Trial Today!
Are you looking for a way to communicate to and retain your customers? Sign up for a free trial to see how it works, or get in touch with us if you have any questions!