Coyote Coffee's Customer Loyalty Program is "Spot On"

A local coffee shop owner is seeing success and cutting down expenses with a customer loyalty program – one that her customers love.

Tunckie LeCroy owns Easley's Coyote Coffee. She's been using SpotOn, a digital loyalty network for merchants and customers.

SpotOn launched its tablet-based inventive program last summer. Since the launch, SpotOn has signed more than 5,000 merchants—more than 1,000 in the past month alone—and is expanding its services to offer merchants a true one-stop shop to help them grow their businesses.

SpotOn is one of the few loyalty programs that help merchants connect with their customers and generate word-of-mouth referrals using email, mobile notifications and social media sites like Facebook and Twitter via its HotSpot dashboard.

LeCroy said she'd tried other ways to reward customers at her business.

“We had punch cards before,” she said. “You get thirteen (punches), you get a free coffee or specialty drink.”

But LeCroy was paying about $70 a month for color punch cards.

She began using the SpotOn program last July.

SpotOn allows LeCroy to stay in touch with her customers and offer them incentives.

“It's nice because I can email my specials out,” she said. “It's connected to everyone's email. When you come in and sign up, you put your email address in and your first and last name, then every time you come in, you scan it.”

Lose your card? A new one can be linked to your information.

“It's really kind of neat,” LeCroy said.

The program is very popular with her customers.

“They love it,” LeCroy said. “It definitely works.”

She said they love the fact that in additional to drinks, they can get other Coyote Coffee merchandise with their Spot On card as they fill up the spots on it.

“10 spots is a coffee, 12 spots is a specialty drink, 15 spots is a water bottle, a tumbler is 25 spots, T-shirt's 40, a long-sleeved shirt is 55 and a sweatshirt's 65,” LeCroy said. “It's pretty neat that they get other things. They like that.”

Coyote Coffee also offers the SpotOn loyalty program at its location in the Captain Kimberly Hampton Memorial Library.

“We have one for each location,” LeCroy said. “The library program is a little different, but I feel it helps increase the business up there and keep a steady flow coming in.”

Since she adopted the SpotOn program, LeCroy has seen a 30 percent revenue increase at Coyote Coffee.

“It's been fantastic for business,” she said. “This has made me able to expand and of course go into the library and hire some more employees.”

Coyote Coffee opened in April 2009 at 1035 S. Pendleton Street.

LeCroy had worked in the coffee business for about five years, and decided to get back into it after a short break.

Coyote Coffee's hours are 6am – 8:30pm Mondays through Wednesdays, Thursdays 6am -9:30pm, 6am - 10pm on Fridays, 7am – 10pm on Saturdays and 8am – 7pm on Sundays.

Coyote Coffee opened in the library in January of this year.

Hours for Coyote Coffee's library location are 9am – 8pm Monday through Thursday, 9am – 6pm Fridays and Saturdays and Sundays 2pm – 6pm.

Coyote Coffee employees 14 people between the two locations.

LeCroy said her business offers customers “a big variety.”

“We're big into the sugar-free flavors that the diabetics aren't always able to get, and soy milk,” she said. “A lot of things that other coffee shops don't have, we offer those things. For those who are diabetic or have finicky diets , it's hard to go some places and get what you want. We also do lunch.”

Coyote Coffees offers a variety of sandwiches.

“We try to stay on the healthier side with the sandwiches, we do wraps, wheat bread, avocados,” LeCroy said. “Fruit cups instead of french fries, that kind of thing.”