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- Coffee shop loyalty schemes are hotly contested in South Africa.
- But most appear more interested in mining your personal data for marketing purposes than rewarding you for your loyalty.
- Some require you to spend up to R1 600, or buy as many as 50 coffees, before they give you one small Americano in return.
- Here's how many coffees you'll need to buy from Vida, Starbucks, Kauai, Mugg & Bean, Seattle, and Bootlegger before you get one back – and how each coffee shop reward scheme compares.
- For more financial news, go to the News24 Business front page.
Coffee shop loyalty schemes are among the most popular in South Africa, with six of the top 10 most-used in the restaurant industry operating in the coffee realm.
And yet, in many cases, you'll have to download a clunky app, share a lot of personal information, consent to receiving marketing messages, and, even then, sometimes spend up to R1 600 before you get a measly Americano as thanks.
Strangely, most coffee shops in South Africa - even direct competitors - have bought the identical third-party loyalty app. It's created by a company called Yoyo and is a basic white-label reward app that allows them to replace the default skin with a custom logo and colour scheme.
Many coffee shops that use this, and a few independently developed apps, compete for your loyalty as much as your personal information. You'll need to provide them with at least a phone number or email address before you can even register - and in some cases, they'll request birthdates and gender before they'll let you through.
And buried in most privacy policies and terms and conditions is your acceptance that apps will track your purchases and usage, sometimes for targeted marketing purposes. And even if you opt out of marketing communication, many require you to accept terms and conditions with hard-wired marketing and other concessions built in.
Among the clutter, though, are a few standout coffee shop loyalty options that are particularly generous - and one consistent performer from Seattle that steers clear of the apps, personal information requirements, and percentage-back models altogether.
The secret to many of these loyalty schemes convincing customers of their worth is their complex structure. They're often based on percentage spend, allocation or points, or something more random like "stars" or "coins".
So to simplify a comparison of their returns, News24 Business has calculated how many Americano coffees you'll need to buy - and how much it'll cost you - to get one for free.
It's worth noting that on percentage-back models, common in outlets where the average spend is relatively high, the more you spend, the more you'll get back. Even so, if it's coffee and a return on your loyalty that you're after, the Americano reward model is one way to compare the offerings more accurately.
Here's how each coffee shop loyalty programme compares - and how many coffees you'll need to buy before you get one back.
Vida e Caffè
Vida e Caffè runs its loyalty programme through its app, which appears to be a white-label version used by at least one other direct competitor.
To register for the loyalty programme, you must provide various personal details, including full name, mobile number, email address, and province. They also ask for your date of birth and gender, which they sneakily only reveal as voluntary fields if you leave them blank.
Although there's an opt-in button to receive marketing communication, to register successfully, you'll need to agree to their terms and conditions, which permits them to contact you via SMS and email for marketing and promotions anyway.
Vida also uses app trackers "for analytics purposes" and will monitor how you use the app for internal development reasons.
Loyalty points expire in three years, and customers can use them to partially or wholly pay for an order.
Americano reward: Buy 20, or spend R560, get one Americano free.
Starbucks
Starbucks has recently updated its local reward programme to an app-based system where it says "possibilities are boundless". To sign up for the new rewards app, you'll need to part with personal information like your full name and email address, with the option of including your birth date.
Users must accept Starbucks' terms and conditions, but there appears to be no hard-accept requirement to receive marketing communication. Starbucks says it collects and uses the information you provide, either automatically or voluntarily.
This includes information on what products you buy and how often and information on other sources like social media and blogs. They do this for various reasons, including marketing and promotional, and "to perform website and mobile application analytics".
Starbucks also operates on a two-tier member model. Both tiers get standard rewards, but Gold members get things like free birthday drinks, in-store refills, and selected syrups and toppings.
Americano reward: Buy 17, or spend R270, get one Americano free.
Kauai
Kauai operates on a familiar app-based reward system that requires you to share your full name, email address, cellphone number, and birthday to register.
Kauai says it collects personal information via the app to improve the app experience "and serve as a way of direct communication" with you.
The Kauai reward scheme operates on a tiered status depending on how much money you spend using the app. Each tier offers specific benefits, primarily birthday freebies of increasing value and free delivery at the top tier. Loyalty points relating to levels reset to zero at the beginning of each year.
Americano reward: Buy 50, or spend R1 500, get one Americano free.
Mugg & Bean
Mugg & Bean operates what appears to be the same white-labelled app as many other quick service restaurants in South Africa for its rewards programme - including at least one direct competitor. You must supply your name, mobile number, email address, and city to register. They also request your birthday and gender, with male and female as your available options.
You'll also need to accept a very long list of terms and conditions across all aspects of their operations. Mugg & Bean says it only collects as much information as needed and won't process it without your permission. However, by registering, you're hard-opted in to receive marketing communication via email and SMS.
Like Vida e Caffè, they also use app trackers for analytic purposes and "have the right to monitor your use of the app".
Reward points expire after three years and may be used for partial or complete payment of an order.
Americano reward: Buy 50, or spend R1 600, get one Americano free.
Seattle Coffee Co
Seattle Coffee Co has consistently offered the most straightforward loyalty programme, requiring the least personal data.
To register, you'll need to enter a 10-digit number, with most people using cellphone numbers for uniqueness and ease of memory. Although this isn't required, a new web interface that allows you to check your balance and transaction history does require a working cell phone number.
Coupled with the accessing of Seattle Coffee Co's new loyalty web interface is an acceptance of terms and conditions that includes that they will collate the information which you give to them "to provide you with services and personalise your use our services" [sic].
They also say they may "use such information to inform you about changes in the services we offer and/or about features we think you would find of interest," opening the door for future marketing channels like other coffee loyalty products.
Still, Seattle assures customers that they won't send loyalty customers unwanted communication - and that the barista cannot see the number entered on their point of sale device.
Americano reward: Buy 10, or spend around R270, get one Americano free.*
Bootlegger Coffee Company
Bootlegger uses an app for its loyalty programme that requires at least a full name and mobile number. There's also the option to include your email, date of birth, and gender.
How they intend to use this personal information is not entirely clear - the terms and conditions you're required to accept on registration do, however, allow them to use your personal information "to provide our services to you, which includes offering products for sale, processing payments, shipping, and fulfilment of your order, and keeping you up to date on new products, services, and offers".
Like others on this list, Bootlegger's loyalty app appears to be a white-label version competitors use. However, Bootlegger has done away with a percentage back model and instead opts for a buy ten, get one free model.
Americano reward: Buy 10, or spend around R330, get one free.*
* Numbers for buy 10, get one free models are approximate, given they conceivably allow customers to buy ten cheaper items and claim a more expensive one as their complimentary.
