Food Service Industry Enhances Competitiveness of Own Apps... Expecting 'Lock-in Effect'

SPC Holds 22 Million App Subscribers
Kyochon Recorded 100 Billion KRW in App Transactions Last Year

Kyochon Chicken's own app screen.
[Photo by Kyochon Chicken]

The food and beverage (F&B) and dining industries are competing to enhance the competitiveness of their own applications (apps) to achieve customer 'lock-in effects.'

According to the industry on the 1st, SPC Group, which owns food and beverage brands such as Paris Baguette, Baskin Robbins, and Dunkin, currently has over 22 million members registered on its proprietary membership app, 'Happy Point.'

Happy Point is the first membership service in the domestic F&B industry, launched by SPC Group in August 2000. It is operated by the total marketing solutions subsidiary, Sektanine. Customers can accumulate points equivalent to the amount spent at over 7,000 franchise stores nationwide, including Paris Baguette, Baskin Robbins, Dunkin, and Pascucci, and use these points like cash. To earn Happy Point points, customers must make a minimum purchase of 1,000 KRW at each brand, and accumulated points can be used starting from 100 points in increments of 10 points.

Through this proprietary membership app, SPC attracts customers by offering various benefits according to membership levels, such as product discounts, additional point accumulation, birthday coupons, and invitations to various events.

In the chicken industry, a leading sector in food delivery, customer acquisition marketing using each company's own app is actively underway. The number of customers registered on Genesis BBQ's app has reached approximately 3.5 million as of this day.

BBQ launched its own app in April 2019 to reduce intermediary fees from delivery apps. It guarantees profitability for franchise stores by reducing delivery app intermediary fees and utilizes customer order information to analyze consumption trends such as date, time, weather, gender, and age for regional marketing.

Kyochon Chicken, with 2.98 million app subscribers, surpassed 100 billion KRW in transaction amounts through its app last year. Kyochon Chicken plans to continuously update the app by collecting customer complaints, difficulties, and suggestions to enhance convenience.

In the coffee industry, Starbucks is a leading example of successfully capturing loyal customers through its own app. Starbucks, which first introduced its app in 2012, now has over 10 million members. To celebrate this achievement, Starbucks recently held a customer appreciation event offering a tall-sized Americano at the same price as in 1999, 2,500 KRW.

Inspired by Starbucks' success with its proprietary app service, other coffee companies are hastening to develop and operate their own apps. Ediya Coffee operates 'Ediya Members,' and Twosome Place runs 'Twosome Heart.'

An industry insider from the food and beverage sector said, “Our own apps not only improve franchise store profitability but also play a significant role in brand promotion,” adding, “By continuing various discounts and point accumulation events, companies expect a ‘lock-in effect’ that retains loyal customers, so each company is competitively investing in this area and striving to improve services.”