Costa, the coffee shop chain, has become the first in the café and restaurant industry to launch a stored-value card in the UK, followed weeks later by Starbucks.
After trials in Birmingham and Glasgow, the Whitbread-owned Costa began rolling out its card programme nationally in October, aiming to have it available at over 400 stores by November.
Stored-value cards from the likes of Starbucks have proved popular in the US, particularly as corporate rewards, but Costa is the first to start down that route in the UK.
Starbucks launched its card in the UK in November. As well as being redeemable at any Starbucks store in the UK, the same piece of plastic can be used at participating outlets in the US, Australia, Canada and Thailand.
Using a swipe-transaction mechanic, Costa describes the new product as a “combination of a credit and loyalty card”. Each card has the capacity to hold from £5 to £75 and can be topped up either in-store or through an individual online customer account at www.costa.co.uk/ .
Costa said the new scheme would improve customer service by reducing queuing time. Research from the trial showed that one in 10 customers signed up for the scheme, with over a third of cardholders using it on a daily basis.
Nearly a half of those who signed up for a card said they made a special trip to that specific store, compared to a quarter of all respondents.
The trial also indicated that 63 per cent of respondents who signed up to the card scheme said they felt more positive towards the brand compared with just 19 per cent of non-cardholders.
Mike Lawless, Costa’s head of UK retail marketing, said: “As the coffee shop sector becomes increasingly competitive, improving customer loyalty and retention will be a fundamental driver of our long-term commercial success. The introduction of our stored-value card will be a key contributor in making Costa the number-one coffee shop business in the UK.
The Starbucks card can be loaded with any amount from £2 to £150. As with the Costa card, customers are encouraged to register their card online at www.starbucks.co.uk so they can check their balance and receive a new card with their remaining balance if their existing one is stolen or lost.
The international reach of Starbucks means that cards loaded in the UK can be used at any participating store in the world even though the currency is US dollars, Canadian dollars or Australian dollars. Starbucks says more countries will be added to the card programme in the future.
The Starbucks card is a popular product for staff and customer rewards in the US, where they are available in denominations of $5 to $500, with a minimum order of 15 cards. Card carriers can be personalised with a corporate logo and message.
Reproduced with permission from http://www.incentivetoday.com/<
