New Yogurtland Real Rewards Mobile App Launches

Fro-yo girl here. Yogurtland’s new Real Rewards mobile app version 2.0 has just launched. Like the old app it has a flavor finder feature, store locator and social sharing tools to share your pics on the app, Facebook or Twitter.You can register your gift card, view the balance, reload and use your phone to pay. The most exciting feature is the new loyalty program. You get one point for every ounce you purchase and you earn your way to a higher reward level. There are three reward levels:

• Green: 3 ounces free for signing up (registering), 3 ounces free on your birthday
• Raspberry: 3 ounces free for every 36 ounces purchased, 5 ounces free on your birthday
• Platinum: 4 ounces free for every 36 ounces purchased, 16 ounces free on your birthday

The ultimate goal is to reach 520 ounces which entitles you to an unlimited cup (anything that fits into the 16 ounce cup).

YL Real Rewards was launched and tested first in Colorado, Louisiana and select Nevada locations. The app is free and can be found in the Apple App store and Google Play app store.

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

Looking for more frozen yogurt news, discussion boards, and resources? Check out the International Frozen Yogurt Association website at http://internationalfrozenyogurt.com/. The IFYA is the independent voice of the frozen yogurt industry.

Giving Customers a Reason to Return

Fro-yo girl here. I eat a lot of fro-yo as you know and I visit many fro-yo shops. Sadly, most of the fro-yo shops I visit are places I’ll only visit once. There are certain things frozen yogurt stores can do to increase the likelihood of a return visit. These are things that draw me back to a frozen yogurt shop:

* New fro-yo flavors: This is the main reason that I revisit a shop that I haven’t been to in awhile. If I hear of a new flavor that I haven’t had there before, I’m immediately interested. On a related note, frozen yogurt shops should announce new flavors. Usually I don’t want to pick up the phone to call and ask about new flavors. Make it easy for customers to learn about your new flavors. While new toppings are nice, they don’t interest me as much as frozen yogurt flavors.

* Seasonal flavors: While the fro-yo flavor might not be new (that is it’s never been offered at the shop), I do look forward to the return of certain seasonal fro-yo flavors, especially pumpkin.

* Favorite flavors: If my favorite fro-yo flavor is part of the line-up, I’m definitely inclined to revisit a shop.

* Promotions, contests and special events: Discounts should only be used sparingly but they can be effective. Events are fun and include celebrating shop birthdays, fundraisers, special limited edition frozen yogurt spoons, happy hour, etc.

* Reward programs: They do work. When I get closer to filling up the card, I go more often. I hate rewards that expire. If I don’t think I can fill up the card in time, I won’t even try.

* Having a strong social media presence: If I like a frozen yogurt store, I’m interested in knowing what’s going on and the easiest way to track a fro-yo shop is through Twitter and Facebook.

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

Yogurtland Mobile App Coming Soon

Fro-yo girl here. Exciting, breaking news...Yogurtland is coming out with a mobile app. According to the sign, the app will allow you to "find your nearest Yogurtland location, your favorite flavors and get real rewards." Rewards?!

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

Tagtile: Identify & Engage Your Customers, Grow Your Business

Fro-yo girl here. I wanted to tell my readers about Tagtile, a new and better way for local businesses to build customer loyalty and increase repeat purchase rates.

Paper stamp cards can create loyalty by rewarding purchase frequency but the merchant doesn’t learn much about the customer base. Twitter and Facebook are good for announcements and promotions, but they’re not good for tracking which customers respond.

New mobile loyalty apps like Tagtile make it more convenient for customers to collect stamps (or tags) and receive targeted offers, messages and reminders on their mobile phones. To earn a tag using Tagtile, the customer launches the Tagtile app and taps his/her phone next to the Tagtile Cube. The Tagtile Cube tracks in-store transactions. The Cube works without an internet connection or it can be integrated with most Point of Sale systems.

By connecting customer identity information with purchase history, Tagtile enables businesses to build a rich database of their users and leverage that data to run highly targeted direct marketing campaigns. The online merchant console makes it easy for merchants to learn about their customer base, including visit frequency, number of first time customers, daily usage, offer redemption rates and more. It also includes mobile marketing tools that enable the merchant to send special offers and notifications to their customers.

Tagtile is founded by alumni from Google and Stanford University and is based in San Francisco.

For additional information and to get started, visit the Tagtile website or email hello@tagtile.com

Download the free Tagtile mobile app from iTunes and Android phones.

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

The New Wave of Universal Frequent Buyer Cards

Fro-yo girl here. I recently noticed a surge of new universal loyalty card/app vendors at local Bay Area businesses. As someone who carries around a staggering amount of fro-yo loyalty cards, I welcome any type of universal loyalty card program.Due to wallet bloat, I have to restrict my card carrying to my very favorite places.

These are the four universal frequent buyer cards that I’ve encountered:

* FIVESTARS: The merchant registers you by asking for your phone number. Users get a plastic card and a plastic tag with a barcode that they can attach to a keychain. To earn points, the merchant scans the barcode. There is no mobile app, so you can’t see where you’ve earned points unless you register online (then you can check your points on their website). It’s easy to use but seems old school.

* PERKVILLE: An email based loyalty program popular with stylish coffeehouses, Perkville users enter their email address into the merchant’s iPad. Since I’m too lazy to type in my email address, I haven’t joined. However, they feel that their solution is superior since customers don’t have to download a mobile app and it can be used by just about anyone.

* STAMPT: Users download a free mobile app. To earn a stamp, you launch the Stampt app, select the business and take a picture of the QR code that the merchant supplies. It’s fairly easy to use but doesn’t seem to be engaging users (e.g., I don’t see people using it). I do like how it tracks your stamps on your active cards on your mobile phone and shows you nearby offers.

* TAGTILE: This was my favorite loyalty card experience. I downloaded the free mobile app. To earn a tag, I launched the app, selected the business, and waved my phone close to the Tagtile Cube. It was the easiest and coolest to use. The app shows me where I’ve earned tags and where the other offers in the area are. The Cube tracks in store transactions and can be integrated with most point of sale systems.

I noticed some businesses were using more than one vendor because they had multiple offers. Adoption rates seem to be higher at coffeehouses but I think fro-yo shops are a perfect fit for these new loyalty programs. If I didn’t have a smartphone, Five Stars would be my favorite but since I do, I find Tagtile to be the most compelling solution.

Customers with existing stamp cards can ask the merchant to add stamps to their new universal loyalty card.

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

New Stampt Loyalty Card iPhone App

Fro-yo girl here. If you're like me, you have a zillion paper loyalty cards (many of them for fro-yo) in your wallet. I can't even fit them all in my wallet.

I just downloaded Stampt, a loyalty card iPhone app. It's free for consumers and free for businesses. Stampt features businesses across the U.S. and it shows you the closest businesses (based on your current location) that are using Stampt. You'll just scan (take a picture of) the Stampt Quick Scan Card near the cashier after your purchase and Stampt will automatically keep track of your stamps on your phone.

They put Tuttimelon on their home page, so I knew it was an app that I could use. The app was released two weeks ago. They've already signed up sandwich shops, video stores, coffeehouses, pizza places, smoothie places and more (with many more businesses to come). They'll also add Blackberry and Android apps soon.

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

Menchie's Signature Fro-yo Spoons & Smileage Reward Program

Fro-yo girl here. I finally have the green Menchie's spoon. I'm amazed by the detail. The front features Menchie and it says this is my mix. The back shows his waffle shirt and pants. His little feet stick out on the side of the spoon. Too cute. The Menchie's that I visited only had the green spoon but pink, yellow and magenta ones also exist. And possibly other colors??? I wish I knew.




I also received the mySmileage Passport with a card and keychain. It's the new rewards program. They used to have stamp cards that were only good for one location. This new card keeps track of your smiles and is accepted at all participating Menchie's locations.

Smiles don't expire and you get 1 smile per dollar spent and 25 free smiles for registering the card online. Plus they mention exclusive rewards and offers and a special b-day treat. See all the rules here.

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

Change in Tutti Card Policy

Tuttilicious news for Tuttimelon fans! They’ve changed their policy of having store specific frequent buyer cards (Tutti Cards). Now Tutti Cards are accepted at any Tuttimelon location in the Bay Area. Yay! Thanks, Roy L!

I took a picture of my filled out Tutti Card (for the Irving St. location).

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

Red Mango Launches Club Mango

Fro-yo girl here. I love loyalty programs, especially when they’re for fro-yo. Red Mango launched Club Mango today. Earn Mango points for purchases but also for other things like referrals and your birthday. Earn 50 points just for signing up registering your card online. Once they have your phone number, it eliminates the problem of forgetting to bring your card since they can look up your number and credit you that way.

Perks include free fro-yo and invitations to special events for Mango fans. The same card can also serve as a refillable prepaid card.

Members only privileges for fro-yo? Yes, sign me up.

Update: I have my Club Mango card today along with my Red Mango t-shirts and a new snack, Sensible Foods organic crunch dried soy nuts (thank you Richard). I met with Richard C.(one of the RM partners) in Palo Alto to chat about fro-yo. I can share the following:

* I went to the back office area and saw his office and a wall w/ Polaroid pics of RM fans
* Richard uses vanilla yogurt body wash (oooh) and likes strawberries, granola and honey on his fro-yo
* They are working on a top secret new flavor
* They're going to offer Lucky Charms as a topping soon
* According to Richard, RM yogurt is creamier in the US than in Korea

http://www.redmangousa.com/

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.