Dive Brief:

• Scooter’s Coffee has redesigned its loyalty program as a points-based system in its app. Consumers now earn five points, called Smiles, for every dollar spent on orders placed in the app. Diners who scan their app at Scooter’s but don’t use it to pay for an order get three points per dollar, according to a press release emailed to Restaurant Dive.
• This replaces a previous loyalty program, which operated as a sort of punchcard system, with consumers earning a free drink after a dozen visits, according to an archived version of Scooter’s franchising website.
• The new program has more flexible redemption options, with customers able to redeem points for almost any item on Scooter’s menu.

Dive Insight:

The redesigned system serves dual purpose for Scooter’s. On the one hand, expanded loyalty flexibility gives consumers greater opportunities for personalization and thus may drive frequency and loyalty. On the other, by giving in-app purchases a 66% faster rate of accrual for points than out-of-app purchases, Scooter’s will likely drive traffic through its first party digital channels. This behavior would allow Scooter’s to secure a significant trove of consumer data to mine for marketing insights and promotional purposes.

According to the press release, customers can redeem points for “food items, drink modifiers like cold foam and extra espresso shots, and cans of Red Bull,” for the first time. The program also awards badges and status levels to its users based on frequency.

The program has three frequency-based tiers: Buddy, Bestie and Ride-or-Die. As customers move up the ranks, they unlock features like additional points per purchase, birthday rewards and exclusive offers.

In the app, redemption options are grouped by their price in points, and once a consumer earns enough points, they can choose a reward to be redeemed in a future order. Consumers can also keep tabs on available rewards, check their status level and the number of points they have.

Drinks earned in the previous program are still available, and those consumers who had racked up points in the old-system will receive a “one-time Smiles boost to reflect the new program’s earn rate structure,” according to the press release.

The simplest way to drive personalization in a loyalty program is to make most of the menu available for redemption. While this may result in consumers opting for more expensive or lower-margin redemption items, it gives diners a greater sense of autonomy. 

Scooter’s is far from alone in reworking its loyalty program, as inflationary pressures change restaurant customers’ priorities. Blaze Pizza just this week announced it was making its program’s rewards more expansive, while Sweetgreen recently switched from a subscription discount model to a points-based program.