Caffè Nero cracks open Easter egg hunt for app users

Brief:

Caffè Nero, the British coffee chain with more than 1,000 locations in eight countries, launched its second consecutive Easter egg hunt that lets customers win prizes from its mobile app. Those who buy coffee from the Caffè Nero app by April 21 can tap or shake their phone to open a virtual egg for a prize, Mobile Marketing magazine reported.
The egg hunt's prizes include free coffee for a month, bonus Caffè Nero loyalty stamps and vouchers for free products. Caffè Nero is working with the Victoria and Albert Museum in London on the Easter egg hunt, and has a theme based on Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland."
In the mobile campaign's first run last year, Caffè Nero customers opened more than 300,000 Easter eggs, and more than 100,000 new users downloaded the app. The company worked with payment, loyalty and customer engagement firm Yoyo to develop its mobile app.

Insight:

Caffè Nero's Easter egg campaign has shown positive results in urging customers to download its app and sign up for its loyalty program. The coffee chain in November 2016 hired Yoyo to create its payment and loyalty app, and since then has run promotional campaigns aimed at boosting store visits and mobile transactions. The app drew 350,000 registered users and captured 8% of checkout transactions in its first year, per a Yoyo case study. The app captures checkout information that helps to track the buying habits of customers and personalize future offers and promotions to reward repeat visits.

The coffee chain, whose U.S. presence is centered in Boston, is among the brands that have developed mobile-based loyalty programs and promotions to urge repeat visits to stores. Chipotle Mexican Grill boosted downloads of its mobile app nearly fivefold with last month's nationwide rollout of a loyalty program to 1 million customers, per a report from Barclays Capital. Bakery chain Paris Baguette last month released a mobile app that lets customers place orders and earn rewards for each purchase. Starbucks has made its mobile app a central part of its successful loyalty program, along with prioritizing order-ahead features and contactless payments.

Mobile apps are transforming loyalty programs for restaurants and retailers with their ability to capture more detailed information about customer spending habits. Unlike card-based loyalty programs, a mobile app works in real time and can provide personalized content, such as push notifications about special offers, and the ability to geotarget customers who opt in to location tracking, per LoyaltyPlant.

Tech-savvy millennials and Generation Z consumers who are most comfortable using mobile apps for shopping tend to seek out brands that work to earn their loyalty. Almost two-thirds (63%) of millennials and Gen Zers said in a survey that they have many choices of where to shop, and a brand must show them loyalty to earn their business, per card services company Alliance Data. Consumers are most interested in receiving offers such as a one-time 25% off a purchase, 10% off every purchase, free shipping, a gift for visiting a store, early access to sales, upgraded loyalty status and access to a personal shopper (4%), per a survey by strategy consultant Kelton.