The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, a coffee and tea specialty retailer, is taking a step towards mobile integration with the release of its new mobile rewards application.

The app, called The Coffee Bean Rewards, offers an incentive for users to keep coming back to the chain for all their coffee needs through the classic methods of loyalty points and exclusive rewards. The brand is banking on the popularity of mobile to keep their existing customers and entice new ones.

“Mobile is now our top digital priority to drive exceptional guest experiences in selection, purchase and loyalty,” said Adam Tabachnikoff, senior vice president of global brand strategy at The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf. “We have high standards across everything we do and choosing Hathway is further testament to that.

“Like our coffee beans, we selected them under stringent standards and are excited to be working with them on this endeavor.”

Coffee competition
Millions of Americans drink coffee every single morning while the more discerning may choose tea. The point is that these items are now necessities in most people’s pantries.

When you are dealing with products of an essential nature, something that every person is expected to have, the competition gets more heated. Coffee retailers need to provide something extra to get customers to pick their brew over the many others that exist.

The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf is banking on mobile rewards as its solution to that question.

The brand announced a new Coffee Bean Rewards app that gives users loyalty points for purchases they make from the retailer, which can be redeemed for rewards.

Additionally, the app is meant to make the entire process of shopping at The Coffee Bean easier.

Mobile payments have been integrated into the app in the form of QR codes. Consumers can store credit card information o the app, which will display a QR code that can be scanned at check out, providing a fast and easy for consumers to move through the line and get their purchases out the door.

The app also comes with a store locator so that customers have an easier time finding the location where they want to shop.

Hot coffee
The Coffee Bean is just one of the many retailers who are finally waking up to the idea that mobile is a powerful tool of customer engagement.

Brands such as Dunkin’ Donuts have made impressive uses from mobile apps. Dunkin’s own rewards app was recently celebrated with a week-long promotion called Perks Week that gave app users special offers and point multipliers (see story).

As consumers continue to make use of mobile as their primary source of digital interaction, it becomes more and more paramount that retailers do whatever they can to mobilize their shopping experiences.

The Coffee Bean took a big step in releasing a mobile rewards app and time will tell if their investment pays off.

“We’re thrilled to be a part of this initiative. The app works well, looks great and is already seeing strong usage. The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf is an amazing client with the right perspective on how to approach an omnichannel commerce and loyalty platform from a mobile-first perspective,” said Jesse Dundon, CEO, Hathway.