Kwik Chek,
recently announced a
plan to rebrand all store locations to Texas Born (TXB), relaunched its rewards
program in June, refining the design and in-app payment, increasing flexibility
in rewards redemption and adding gamification.
Kwik Chek
CEO Kevin Smartt called the relaunch process a “long, winding road,” starting
with about nine months of creating the new design and figuring out the integration
between different partners used within the app, including P97 for mobile
payment and Koupon Media for exclusive digital coupons.
“Once you have the refined product and
are ready to launch, then there’s the actual relaunch process,” Smartt said. “It
was quite a big endeavor, but I think it’s been well worth it.”
So, for Kwik Chek, with close to 50
locations throughout Texas and Oklahoma, the relaunch process involved
educating and training employees on how the new enhancements work and how they
can explain them to customers in the most efficient, easy way possible.
Doing it the right way Kwik Chek will once
employees are up to speed, then move too educate the customer. Without doubt Kwik
Chek pulled out all the stops; “billboards, commercials, store signage, social
media”, to make sure customers knew about the relaunch and why the app is
better than ever.
Smartt continued as he cautioned other
retailers to be patient in the development and launch periods.
“The more complete picture you have in
the beginning, and the more complete development that you have, the better off
you’ll be in the long run, even though it may cost you a little bit more up
front,” Smartt said. “Because every time you have to add something, you have to
go back and train your customer. It’s hard, it’s expensive, and it takes a
while to get them to understand the changes you made.” Ultimately, Smartt said
Kwik Chek’s new app offers customers three key, standout features, starting
with its seamlessness and ease of use, including in-app payment.
So, let’s look as see just how this new
program is interactive and participatory:
1.
Through the new app, customers now have
the ability to become a loyalty member and sign up for their kwikcard Rewards
payment card directly within the app, rather than picking up a rewards card
in-store and enrolling online.
2.
Each time a customer purchases food, they
will receive four points per food item. One point can be redeemed for one cent
off per gallon of gas. Customers receive 100 points when they register for
kwikcard Rewards, which can be redeemed for $1 off per gallon of gas (with a
20-gallon maximum) or $1 off an in-store transaction.
3.
The third key feature of the new app is
its gamification, which Smartt said has been “highly successful in driving new
loyalty members,” starting with Kwik Chek’s 100 Days of Giveaways promotion,
which ran from June 1 through Sept. 8. The promotion enabled participants to
win one free prize every day by playing the virtual scratch-and-win game within
the app.
4.
Prizes included free gas for a year, free
Kwik Chek coffee or fountain drinks for a year, signed footballs, Yeti coolers
and golf bags, candy bars, snacks, food and more.
To date Kwik Chek has been heavily
promoting the giveaway across its social media channels, highlighting the
prizes and prize winners as they were announced.
While the 100 Days promotion has ended,
gamification will be a continual part of the app, Smartt said.
Going forward, Kwik Chek is also working
to offer mobile ordering, planning for a fourth-quarter launch, along with
curbside pickup, both of which will be available at three new stores opening
soon in the Austin area, all built from the ground up.
“We’ll probably launch that in two
specific areas where we operate and try to do a trial run, work through some of
the kinks before we move to the entire chain,” Smartt said.
And while Kwik Chek currently offers
delivery through third-party vendors, Smartt said the chain is exploring the
possibility of offering the service in-house.
“In the past, we weren’t thinking about
doing delivery,” he said. “But now we think, with the branding of it, the whole
process of it — we may need to own the whole process.”
Overall, Smartt sees digital innovation
like mobile ordering as a permanent addition to c-store foodservice operations.
“I think as we continue to migrate down
this digital pathway where consumers are more comfortable ordering online or
via mobile app, and they have a good experience, I think it’s here to stay,” he
said, “and it will only get better and more refined and enhanced as we go
along.”
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