The Blend

The Blend is a single location coffee shop located in the heart of Oneida, New York. The Blend was founded by sisters - Kara, Daryl and Emma, who were searching for a way to achieve a competitive edge in their area, where there are a lot of other independent coffee shops.

To stand out from their competitors, The Blend decided to partner with Pepper a couple of years ago to create a bespoke app. Their easy-to-use app allows guests to pre-order their favourite food and drink, and collect it when it’s ready to eliminate queues and waiting around during peak periods.

Since the launch of The Blend app, the feedback from customers has been very positive - a lot of them were taken aback that there was an app that they could now use for ordering and loyalty, and their coffeeshop has now built up a cult following who love using it. So much so, The Blend now takes 80% of orders via the app!

The addition of a loyalty scheme means The Blend has seen an increase in customer loyalty since the app launched, with people visiting more often in order to earn rewards. Customers earn points with every purchase and redeem against their favourite products through Pepper’s seamless integration with Square. ‘If we ever removed the app, customers would be really sad,’ Kara said. ‘They love being able to pre-order and get exclusive app-only offers and discounts.’

A huge part of The Blend’s app success came from marketing the app to their local student population, who love to utilise their loyalty points and encourages them to come back again and again.

The app also led to an increase in average spend, as customers find it easy to add on additional products, snacks or toppings to drinks. This is extra spend they may not add verbally over the counter, but is easy to be tempted by when browsing the menu on their phones.

Not only have customers seen the benefits of using The Blend app, but the business has thrived since its adoption too.

Emma said ‘the app is now just part of the operation in store, and drinks are sent out much quicker as staff aren’t needing to focus on taking orders’. She went on to add that because staff were focused on fulfilling orders as quickly as possible, rather than taking payment, ‘we're providing a higher quality of customer service compared to our competitors.’

Furthermore, Darryl added, ‘many staff say they would ‘much rather receive an app order than order at the counter.’

Finally, the team at The Blend commented that Pepper is a great company to work with, and Kara finished by saying: ‘we reach out to support, and they come back to you quickly and are very helpful.’

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