Krispy Kreme’s App May Be Late to the Party, but has Grand Plans (Dec. 2, 2015)
Competition for consumers looking to get their doughnut and coffee fix, among other offerings, has heated up with this week’s announcement of Krispy Kreme’s new loyalty app. The app goes head-to-head with the likes of Dunkin’ Donuts and Tim Hortons.
Customers may download the free Krispy Kreme Rewards app from iTunes and Google Play. Customers make Krispy Kreme purchases at the POS by displaying a barcode that appears on the phone, and funds can be added to an account with a debit or credit card, a company spokesman tells Paybefore. In addition to paying with the app, Krispy Kreme customers can use the app to find their favorite location, earn rewards with each visit and be notified when the store’s signature neon “Hot Now” sign is lit. New features soon will be added to the rewards app, including the ability to share gifting points with other customers, according to the company. NCR Corp., a global provider in consumer transaction technologies, developed the app platform for Krispy Kreme.
Krispy Kreme has been rolling out the app across the U.S., starting in the Carolinas, and it’s expected to be in all U.S. markets in coming months. Krispy Kreme currently has 300 U.S. stores and 800 internationally. By comparison, Dunkin’ Donuts has more than 8,000 in the U.S, and an additional 3,200 Dunkin’ Donuts locations worldwide. And, as of September 2014, Tim Hortons had 3,665 restaurants in Canada, 869 in the U.S. and 56 in other global locations.
Coming late to the app party won’t present problems for Krispy Kreme, according to Ben Jackson, director of the Prepaid Advisory Service at Mercator Advisory Group. “It’s not too late for Krispy Kreme to roll out an app,” he says. “People like the apps and companies see the success that Starbucks has had. The different apps, just like the different stores, aren’t mutually exclusive. People will look at them as convenience and use their favorite apps, especially if they get rewards for doing so.”
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