Jamba Juice Co. is planning to launch a new loyalty program called My Fruitful Rewards to let consumers easily earn rewards at Jamba Juice stores.

My Fruitful Rewards will be released in the first quarter of 2014 in most United States locations. Jamba Juice partnered with Spendgo to create the loyalty program and allow guests to earn rewards by typing in their phone number into touchscreens at the point of sale.

“We want to provide value-added rewards to our customer base,” said Julie Washington, chief brand officer of Jamba Juice, Emeryville, CA. “The Spendgo solution reduces the barrier to signing up since it uses just a phone number to get started, so all our customers can participate easily.

“Our customers are on the go and are actively using their smartphones for everything from communicating with friends to finding the closest Jamba store,” she said. “Being mobile-accessible is an important criteria for all our programs.”

Real-time rewards
Jamba Juice consumers will be able to register for the loyalty program at the store or online and start earning rewards on all beverage and food purchases.

When consumers earn enough points for a reward, they will be messaged in real-time at the POS. They will have the option to use their reward for that purchase or save it for later.

The new system also allows Jamba Juice to provide custom rewards based on individual purchase behavior.

Jamba Juice recently completed a test of the Spendgo program in more than 30 locations. After deeming the test successful, the company is about ready to launch the rewards program to the public.

Mobile smoothies
Jamba Juice has rolled out many different mobile initiatives in the past.

For example, the smoothie chain announced that it was working on developing mobile payments via a mobile application (see story).

Additionally, Jamba Juice included QR codes in its in-store signage to increase its email database and encourage consumers to become Jamba insiders (see story).

According to Wilson Kerr, vice president of business development and sales at Unbound Commerce, Boston, loyalty programs incentivize more frequent visits and add a POS-integrated gamification element that yields ROI.

Mr. Kerr is not affiliated with Jamba Juice or Spendgo. He commented based on his expertise on the subject.

“Traditional punch cards require the customer to manage the actual log of visits,” Mr. Kerr said. “Thanks to mobile technology, this can now be hosted by the vendor, and real-time messaging can be served up, with rewards that are customized, based on the consumer profile of the customer.

“One only has to look across the parking lot to a nearby Starbucks to see how important mobile can be for a quick serve beverage retailer,” he said. “They have written the book on the use of mobile for both payments and consumer engagement via mobile, and I am sure Jamba Juice wants to learn as much as they can about their customers, while also providing an easy way for them to be rewarded for being a loyal customer.

“This program can provide [customers] with a greater feeling of brand engagement and an easy way to identify themselves and have a personalized experience when they visit a Jamba Juice. With buying behaviors in-hand, Jamba Juice can learn who buys what, when, and with this information, deliver even more value through this program by making sure the rewards they offer are relevant and personalized.”

Final Take
Rebecca Borison is editorial assistant on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York