Loyalty breeds success at Café Bamber – with the help of EPOS software

Loyalty breeds success at Café Bamber

Only a brave man would launch a privately-owned, independent coffee shop in an area surrounded by major chains. But that’s what John Wheeler did – and business is booming.

John says the secret of his success is a mixture of quality service from courteous staff, his own blend of fair trade coffee – and a revenue-generating loyalty card scheme provided by his Aloha EPOS software.

Before opening Coffee Bamber in the Cornmill Shopping Centre, Darlington, John was in charge of a hotel, where he used roomMaster property management software from NFS Technology.

So when he needed EPOS software for his coffee shop, he turned again to NFS, who installed Aloha.

“Aloha Quick Service covers our POS needs and simplifies operations for our staff, putting everything on a touch screen,” says John.

“It’s ideal for me behind the scenes. From my home office, I can connect to the system, keep myself up to date and see how business is moving in real time. I also update new products and pricing remotely, and using Aloha for stock control has cut our waste down to 1%.”

It’s the way the Aloha EPOS software handles John’s loyalty card system that been a winner for attracting new customers and keeping them coming back.

“We offered loyalty cards from the start,” says John. “We operate a reward card that gives points on customer purchases – this is tremendously successful, with around 7,000 customers using the cards.

“We also have a preferential card for senior citizens. They get their normal points, but they also get a 10% discount, which saves the trouble customers having to tell staff they are senior citizens when they order.”

For both of John’s cards, customers can use points against partial payment of as little as 40p, right across the full range of products.

“This is the greatest advantage to the business,” said John. “Once a customer has a card they just keep coming back. And we can monitor that in the system.”

The importance of loyalty cards to Coffee Bamber was demonstrated when their EPOS software went down one Saturday morning. Luckily, a call to NFS solved the problem swiftly.

“NFS technologists found another machine, programmed it and sent it to us, so we were up and running in no time. Without NFS’ help finding an EPOS our cash flow could meet, we would have been in trouble.”

* Discover how Aloha EPOS software can help your café business boom too.