<p>Barista is the first coffee retailer in the country to start a loyalty programme, 'Bean-o-holic, even as the modern retailers in FMCG and apparel space and quick service restaurants (QSR) already use such cards to boost their sales.<br /><br />"We are launching the Bean-o-holic initiative by mid next week. The cards, like any other loyalty card programme, is aimed at customer acquisition and retaining them," Barista CEO Sanjay Coutinho told PTI here.<br /><br />The company, a part of Italian coffee major Lavazza, will initially the launch the scheme in Delhi-NCR region and roll-out the service on a pan-India level by April, he said.<br /><br />Barista runs around 200-odd outlets, a sizeable chunk of them in the Delhi-NCR region. However, the company has no plans to add new outlets this year, Coutinho said.<br /><br />Loyalty programmes, though a new concept in India, have started picking up in the last few years with the growth of modern retail where customer retention is a challenge<br />Barista is focusing on the same to both attract new customers and boost sales, the Chief Executive officer said.<br /><br />For Barista, the initiative assumes significance, as the Indian market is witnessing a stiff competition with firms such as Tata's entering the market with global coffee major Starbucks that runs 16,000 outlets across 50 countries.<br /><br />There are also major players like Cafe Coffee Day that runs 1,040 outlets the country. In the premium segment is Costa Coffee, which is also ramping up its network</p>
<p>Barista is the first coffee retailer in the country to start a loyalty programme, 'Bean-o-holic, even as the modern retailers in FMCG and apparel space and quick service restaurants (QSR) already use such cards to boost their sales.<br /><br />"We are launching the Bean-o-holic initiative by mid next week. The cards, like any other loyalty card programme, is aimed at customer acquisition and retaining them," Barista CEO Sanjay Coutinho told PTI here.<br /><br />The company, a part of Italian coffee major Lavazza, will initially the launch the scheme in Delhi-NCR region and roll-out the service on a pan-India level by April, he said.<br /><br />Barista runs around 200-odd outlets, a sizeable chunk of them in the Delhi-NCR region. However, the company has no plans to add new outlets this year, Coutinho said.<br /><br />Loyalty programmes, though a new concept in India, have started picking up in the last few years with the growth of modern retail where customer retention is a challenge<br />Barista is focusing on the same to both attract new customers and boost sales, the Chief Executive officer said.<br /><br />For Barista, the initiative assumes significance, as the Indian market is witnessing a stiff competition with firms such as Tata's entering the market with global coffee major Starbucks that runs 16,000 outlets across 50 countries.<br /><br />There are also major players like Cafe Coffee Day that runs 1,040 outlets the country. In the premium segment is Costa Coffee, which is also ramping up its network</p>