Global Franchise Group has seen sales at its Marble Slab Creamery and MaggieMoo’s Ice Cream stores soar more than 50% since November due to a mobile, loyalty, and social integration program.
Global Franchise Group, which is the parent company of Marble Slab Creamery and MaggieMoo’s, began testing a mobile, loyalty, and social integration platform through MercuryLoyalty in November. Marble Slab Creamery and MaggieMoo's franchises that participated in the campaign increased average transactions by more than 50% through MercuryLoyalty – a POS-integrated mobile and social-based loyalty solution.
As a result of the pilot test program, GFG is rolling out the program to its nationwide portfolio of franchises -- Great American Cookies®, Marble Slab Creamery®, MaggieMoo's®, Pretzelmaker®, and Pretzel Time®. Sales in the industry have remained flat at $25 billion annually for the past five years while competition has intensified, according to the National Dairy Board.
Allison Lauenstein, brand director for Marble Slab Creamery and MaggieMoo’s Ice Cream & Treatery, told Loyalty 360 that GFG is testing a texting program with its customers.
“It is something new for us so our loyal customers were not used to us communicating with them via text,” Lauenstein said. “The test began in November and is still ongoing.”
Lauenstein said GFG decided to ramp up its mobile, loyalty, and social efforts because it’s looking for ways “to increase our touch points with consumers and to build loyalty.”
Mobile marketing is viewed as a fast way to drive impulse purchases like ice cream, Lauenstein said. MercuryLoyalty’s innovative marketing tool makes it easy for merchants to run targeted campaigns by sending promotional offers and coupons to select customers via SMS text, email, and social media.
Through the MercuryLoyalty program, customers visiting the ice cream stores can sign up at the cash register for special offers to be sent via text messages by providing their phone number. Customers can share the offers, such as a $0.30 a scoop campaign, with their friends via Facebook and Twitter.
Within five months, more than 32,000 customers at 16 Marble Slab and MaggieMoo’s locations in five states signed up to receive special deals. What’s more, MercuryLoyalty was able to capture valuable customer feedback about the promotion that now influences day-to-day operations and inform future campaigns.
What has the customer feedback been like due to these efforts? “Customers seem to be interested in the test and are coming into our locations more often,” Lauenstein said. “It also allows the franchisee to better target those customers who have not been in for a while with a special offer.”
Despite the massive success in the past six months, Lauenstein remains cautiously optimistic.
“We want to see how it does as we go into our peak season,” she said.