Developing a mobile application for regular customers of a large chain of beer on tap shops

About Project

A story about the development of a mobile app for a large chain of 189 draught beer stores. It started as a simple renovation of the loyalty program. But in the end client got a proper communication channel that allowed them to gather information about their customers, increase average check amount and be better customer oriented.

Goals and Solution

What was the client's need?

Simplify the process of special offers use
Continuous monitoring of purchases and accruals/withdrawals for all stores and customers profiles
Make an extension of the loyalty program less expensive

That's why we've decided to:

Replace existing plastic cards with a multifunctional digital tool
Create a personalised, user-friendly and gamified application

Key achievements

250k
total users
20-25%
local market share
16-26k
DAU (peaks on Fridays 😏)

But what is more powerful than just creating a mobile app for saving discounts? Turning it into a community of loyal customers who use the app's features every day to place more orders, share their reviews and open up new horizons of interaction with your brand. So this is the way we have made it happen for Beerpoint.

How we met Beerpoint

When choosing one of their beer pinta's, of course 🍻

But, to be honest, we've joined the project in 2021, when the client had:

100+ beer stores in their retail chain
Sophisticated plastic card loyalty program

Customers could accumulate points through cash back and then spend them later or take advantage of a fixed discount. In addition, every 15th litre of beer is free with the bonus card and they can accumulate up to 5 litres.

💡 So we need to move all the existing loyalty program data and specifics into a mobile application with comprehensive functionality. And also make things easy-to-use for client and his customers.

What was done on the first release?

We've started with digitalizing the program invented by the client to make the first step along the path to business transformation.

It includes the following features:

Fast profile access
Open the homepage by one click with personal barcode, card and bonus statuses, list of last orders, push notification switch button.
Purchase history
View the order and payment details with ability to make rates of favorite items.
Bonus spending options
Accumulate points through cash back and then spend them later or use a fixed discount.
Searching filters
Find needed beer sort or snacks by type and in-store availability.
Marks and reviews
Share impressions and leave feedback for items you've tried.
Stores map
In addition to all the shops being shown on the map with easy route building we also added filters by working hours.
Special offers
Watch or skip promotional banners with participation requirements to get more gifts and discounts from the brand.

The results we came up with

No to plastics, fat wallets and missed discounts.

Yes to a handy application and a discount card always at hand, as well as the possibility to track that free 15th litre.

And certainly, to save time on driving between the shops looking for one's favourite beer. One can also monitor the stock online regardless whether one's at home or visiting.

The Perfect Retailer Loyalty Program App

To find out more details, explore this:

Read the article

What happens next?

Everything works perfectly and user engagement in the app has grown so rapidly. In 2022, the client decided to add more chips to the functionality to increase it's convenience and effectiveness.

By 23.03.2022

32k
total users
26k
DAU

As a result of the new release, the app now has the following features:

Family groups

We allow users to share points or a discount with their relatives or friends, who they can gather into a “family” type profile.

Customers support

All problems and questions about orders are discussed via chat. Customers can also track how issues are resolved, rather than having to search through message history.

Redesigned the catalog

We changed the structure and added the ability to mark "I tried"/"I want to try", and then filter by them.

Personal notes about products

We let customers leave remarks "as in a notebook” about beer sorts and appetizer they have already tested. Just open the note to see how bitter / sweet / sour is the chosen option.

And what are the last improvements?

In 2023, the client came back with the idea of making bonus earning more game-like, in line with future trends in loyalty program development.

But such improvements also required some interface changes.

And here some results after gamification release:

from 2.5 to ~3
number of items increase
~40%
DAU increase
~10%
average bill increase

So we’ve added:

Wheel of Fortune

Gamification tool aimed at increasing average check and total revenue. Every fixed amount spent in the stores gives the user 1 spin of the virtual wheel within the dedicated app page. For each spin, the customer receives 1 of 6 bonuses selected by the store manager according to the season or planned marketing promotion.

Coupons and discounts page

Each coupon is a discount or gift that can be redeemed by scanning a QR at the checkout. The QR's consist of such details as the amount of bonus points, a gift (e.g. nuts), free litres and other bonuses. Users receive them as an apology for purchasing errors, as a holiday gift or for playing Wheel of Fortune.

Homepage redesign

Worked with card and savings visuals, placed promotions and news were in the bottom menu. A progress wheel and a page with coupons (discounts) were added to the main screen.

The prize sector, or how to make the user want to buy from you

To find out more details, explore this article:

Read the article

Used technologies

Front-end: React Native is our main front end stack.
Back-end: PHP, Laravel are our main back end stack, the most popular PHP framework currently.
Databases: PostgreSQL, Redis are used for reliable storage of the main data.
Server: Docker, Kubernetes allow cost reduction for server infrastructure maintenance, CI/CD processes.

Team

Our mobile lead Maria Sidorevich was in charge of the front end. Back end: Ilya Zavilensky. Appearance of the application was made by an outsource designer.

Initial team:

Maria S.

Mobile

Ilya Z.

Backend

Max B.

Management

Further work on new features:

Eugene S.

Mobile

Slava P.

Backend

Nastya P.

Design

Alexey D.

QA

Max L.

Management

Timelines

Prototyping and design of the original app took 1.5 months. Development took another 2 months. And then it took 3 weeks to fine-tune the application with real data and scenarios.

But we're always in touch with the customer and adding new features to the app to make it scalable and able to meet new business objectives.

Duration:

4+ months

Product specifics

The proposed development approach provided the client synchronization of all business processes in the course of performed operations.

Fast updates

The catalogue displayed to the customers is updated every 15 minutes to show products available in shops. It seems like nothing extraordinary. But the beer is on tap, not bottled. That is, using maths and no magic we see how many litres are there left in kegs at each sales point and we show the data in real time.

Immediate processing

The system sends a push notification with the order information immediately to the regular customer. Thus we can process up to 100 orders per minute. Respectively, customers can always look up what and when they bought, the goods, prices, discounts, savings.

Quality control

Each user have the possibility to leave 360 reviews after each purchase: about the shop, the goods, employees. It requires minor writing, just pressing icons and rating. It allows the administration to control the quality of products and the level of customer service.

Cross-platform app

The data is processed centrally from devices running different operating systems.

The essence of the project

The application allows to forget about the need to check the level of bonuses on the card, when were they accrued and withdrawn, etc. Everything is clearly visualised and thought through in terms of UX/UI.

It gives an additional marketing tool: it has promotions, news, push notifications. A clear and smooth connection is established allowing to control the quality of products and the employees' work and improve the customer's loyalty.

It is possible to mitigate any negative feelings from the customers by offering some free litres of beer.

Client Review

In addition to many years of cooperation and trust, these words speak for themselves

“They were responsive and prompt guys who made sure that the work was done well and even perfectly."
VP of Marketing, Beerpoint

What is the value for brands that would want to use such a solution?

Beerpoint app is a perfect example of what a loyalty program should look like, serving the needs of both the customer and the business. If you're a B2C business, just look at how many benefits you can get.

🤝

Direct communication with all of your customers

🗃

Centralized changes in the whole database

📯

Large-scale marketing and PR-campaigns

👨🏻‍💻

Flexible management for chosen stores in the chain

📈

Sales and average check increase

🧪

Reasonable changes based on user data analysis

How retail apps can improve user engagement and retention: 9 ways to increase customer loyalty

To find out more details, explore this article:

Read the article

About Project

Goals and Solution

Key achievements

250k

20-25%

16-26k

How we met Beerpoint

What was done on the first release?

Fast profile access

Purchase history

Bonus spending options

Searching filters

Marks and reviews

Stores map

Special offers

The results we came up with

The Perfect Retailer Loyalty Program App

What happens next?

32k

26k

Family groups

Customers support

Redesigned the catalog

Personal notes about products

And what are the last improvements?

from 2.5 to ~3

~40%

~10%

Wheel of Fortune

Coupons and discounts page

Homepage redesign

The prize sector, or how to make the user want to buy from you

Used technologies

Team

Initial team:

Further work on new features:

Timelines

Product specifics

Fast updates

Immediate processing

Quality control

Cross-platform app

The essence of the project

Client Review

How retail apps can improve user engagement and retention: 9 ways to increase customer loyalty

YPA. Restaurant aggregator for table reservations, & online orders

RMarket. Installment based marketplace for electronics & appliances

John Dory. Loyalty program mobile app

Got a project in mind?

Thanks for getting in touch with us! 🤝