Between 2012-2014, many froyo chains launched froyo apps. The argument for having a mobile app sounded compelling; with so many people using mobile devices (well over 200 million Americans have smartphones and the number keeps growing), the app would allow users to engage with the froyo shop anywhere and anytime.
However, we’ve found that several major froyo chains have discontinued their mobile apps. In other words, these chains no longer have a mobile app.
We were inspired to ponder two questions: Does a froyo shop need a mobile app? Also, what lessons can be learned from the froyo shop apps that succeeded or failed?
Overview of Froyo Chain Froyo Apps
We looked at the apps of the largest froyo chains.
Menchie’s: Menchie’s had two older apps, both launched in 2013. Smile World was a gaming app with several games featuring the mascot, Menchie. The Yumm Finder app helped users find the nearest Menchie’s, click to call locations, and get driving directions. It also had information about new flavors, campaigns, and promotions. However, Yumm Finder did not have a flavor finder feature, integration with rewards or payment, or egifting.
A new, improved Menchie’s app was launched in March 2019, powered by Skoop. It features rewards tracking, mobile payments (add value with credit card, auto-reload), add or send a gift card, order history, in app messaging, and a customer survey. While you can access froyo flavors, there is no flavor finder feature.
The Menchie’s app currently has 85 ratings and an average score of 2.6 out of 5 stars on the App Store.
Orange Leaf: Orange Leaf first launched its app, called My Orange Leaf, in 2012. The initial version found the nearest Orange Leaf location, provided a map with contact information and directions, allowed users to see froyo flavors, special offers, and community events at each location, included nutritional information, had loyalty card and gift card integration, streamed Orange Leaf’s Twitter and Facebook feeds, and allowed users to upload pictures for a chance to be featured on Orange Leaf’s Facebook page. Orange Leaf continued to enhance the app with new features. In 2014, it introduced a new app that combined payment, a loyalty program, and offer redemption into a unified experience. A recent search of the App Store and Google Play yielded no results, other than an app for Orange Leaf store owners called Remarkable Me.
Pinkberry: Remember when Pinkberry had paper loyalty cards? In 2012, Pinkberry made the bold move away from paper punch cards to Pinkcard, their new loyalty card. They launched the Pinkberry mobile app for iOS and Android, at the same time. Customers were rewarded for registering their Pinkcard with a free small froyo with toppings.
The Pinkberry mobile app had rewards tracking, flavor finder, store locator, egifting, social sharing, payment, and customer feedback option. At the time, it was one of the best froyo apps available.
The app wasn’t updated between 2013-2016. It even disappeared for a few months. When it was relaunched in April 2017, the new version had a similar functionality to the version that it replaced. The app currently has rewards tracking, egifting, payment, location finder, flavor finder, etc. However, the new version was not an improvement. To find flavors, the app redirects the user to the Pinkberry website where you have to look up the store again. While rewards are shown, the expiration dates are not shown. Also, according to app reviews, some franchisees aren’t good about updating their flavors, making the flavor finder app inaccurate.
Pinkberry’s app currently has 211 ratings and an average rating of 4.3 out of 5 on the App Store.
Red Mango: Red Mango’s original 2012 app allowed loyalty members (Club Mango members) to track their loyalty points. A new app launched in August 2013 added a store locator, flavor finder, payment/mobile wallet, and ability to register loyalty cards. In recent app reviews posted to the App Store, some users say that the app isn’t working properly and is full of bugs. There are 28 ratings and the average rating is 4 out of 5 stars.
sweetFrog: The sweetFrog app launched in 2013 featured games, rewards, coupons, store locator, loyalty, store survey, and news. The games allowed players to earn rewards, discounts, and prizes. We were unable to find the app during a recent search of the App Store and Google Play.
TCBY: TCBY launched an app in April 2017, powered by LevelUp. The TCBY app has menu, allergy, and nutritional information, tracks rewards, can be used for payment, and has a location finder. LevelUp is also powering the 16 Handles app. TCBY’s app currently has 1.47k ratings with an average rating of 4.8 out of 5 stars on the App Store.
Tutti Frutti: One Tutti Frutti location, in Eldersburg, MD, launched a basic, location specific app in 2015. The app has loyalty tracking, announcements, coupons, and location information. Tutti Frutti Fans is an app for the Melbourne, Australia stores that includes a store locator and loyalty tracking.
Yogen Fruz: The Yogen Fruz mobile app was launched in 2014. Features included a location finder, exclusive app contests, payment, loyalty tracking, and egifting. The app was recently updated in August 2018. It has 4 ratings with an average rating of 2.8 out of 5 stars on the App Store.
Yogurtland: Yogurtland’s first mobile app, released in 2013, had the Flavor Finder, which allowed users to search by flavor name, search for locations with the flavor, or look up a location and view the available flavors. Version 2.0 added the new loyalty program, Real Rewards, with three reward levels, card registration, and payment. The reward expiration date is included, as well as the number of points earned that year, and progress towards the Unlimited Cup reward. Most Yogurtland franchisees are good about providing accurate flavor information.
However, the current app version from JLOOP crashes and freezes often and this has been the case for well over a year. Quite a few app reviewers mention that the app crashes and doesn’t work. The app currently has an average rating of 3.4 out of 5 stars based on 23 ratings on the App Store. Fortunately, customers can still earn their loyalty points by providing their phone number at the register and log into the Yogurtland website for rewards tracking.
Assessment of Current Froyo Chain Apps
All the chains we discussed had some type of mobile app. Tutti Frutti was the only one that did not have an app for the entire chain. Orange Leaf and sweetFrog seem to have discontinued their apps. Of the apps that we’ve used, Yogurtland’s has the most useful information and its franchisees are the best at updating location specific flavors, but the app always freezes.
Having read froyo app reviews, we noticed several recurring problems.
- Bugs
- Lack of updates, ongoing support for the app
- Lack of franchisee support (e.g., franchisees do not provide current flavor information)
- Low levels of adoption by consumers
- Lack of useful app features
Which Froyo App Features Are The Most Useful?
Restaurant apps are the most useful for frequent customers. People who rarely visit a restaurant have little reason to download the restaurant’s app. While online ordering is one of the most attractive restaurant app features, that feature doesn’t make much sense for self-serve frozen yogurt shops.
We feel that loyalty program integration is the most attractive feature a froyo app can have. While frequent buyer cards can be carried around, they can take up a lot of room, easily be forgotten, and be lost or damaged.
The second most attractive app feature is the location specific flavor finder, if it is accurate. Frequent customers tend to have favorite flavors and want to know which flavors are available before they visit a froyo shop.
On the other hand, an in app location finder and hours of operation seem to have limited usefulness with so many other apps (e.g., Yelp) that provide the same functionality. However, these are simple features that should be included in a froyo app.
Should a Froyo Shop Have a Mobile App?
The cost of app development is considerable (from $38,000 – $171,000 according to Medium). And, the risk of poor customer adoption is not insignificant. While the number of apps keeps growing and people are spending more time on apps, comScore’s 2017 US Mobile Apps Report found that the majority of US consumers (51%) do not download any apps in a month. Many are likely to delete apps that they aren’t using to declutter and save storage space. A survey found that 70% of consumers have not downloaded a restaurant-specific mobile app. According to Food Tech Connect, only 16% of restaurants have a mobile app.
While there are many articles out there about why your restaurant needs an app, most of those are written by app developers. We feel that small froyo shops do not need a mobile app. A good app requires ongoing support and updates. It also works better when the store has the ability to allow customers to tap their phones at the register to access their mobile app, using NFC technology (aka smart tap technology). This is a lot to ask of a small business when even much larger froyo chains have struggled to provide a useful app.
