Coke Solutions
Marketing

My Coke Rewards® Delivers More Ways to Smile Via Vending Machines

New technology leverages loyalty program to increase sales

Consumers will find it convenient and faster to get more of a good thing — beverages from The Coca-Cola Company, as well as the opportunity to earn and redeem My Coke Rewards® (MCR) points directly at vending machines.

The Company is upgrading thousands of vending machines with loyalty functionality, tied into the previously online-only My Coke Rewards platform and using standard MCR points as currency. The launch follows a successful pilot program in Maryland that drove 15% sales increases in at-work and college channels.

"The MCR-based vending loyalty program is just the first part of The Coca-Cola Company's Vending Consumer Engagement (VCE) program, which is intended to transform the way people interact with venders. Additional functionality will include promotions, mobile payments, gaming, content and social media — all on the same set of technology equipped vending machines," says Dan Avenick, director of Vending Strategy,Coca-Cola Refreshments. "The program is designed to differentiate theCoca-Cola vending experience by delighting consumers in ways not currently expected or even possible."

With the MCR-based vending loyalty program, consumers can receive freeCoca-Cola products after making 10 vending purchases with a My Coke Rewards loyalty card or by redeeming existing MCR points from a linked account.

My Coke Rewards is the beverage industry's No. 1 loyalty program with more than 21 million members and growing. Members earn points by purchasing any beverage among 15 participating Coca-Cola brands and, in turn, make over 7 million visits to www.mycokerewards.com each month to redeem them for rewards and instant-win prizes. The vending loyalty program leverages this existing network, while enhancing its value by providing some 20,000 physical redemption locations for MCR members who prefer instant free product rewards vs. online redemption.

The loyalty program is just the first application to run on the proprietary hardware solution developed by the Company using the Coca-Cola SWIPE™ cashless gateway.

Avenick added "VCE, including its loyalty program, will initially be deployed exclusively through Coca-Cola's full service business. But we intend to provide access to our key FLO partners as soon as the reconciliation processes and commercial models are developed — which we're working through now."

To learn more about how the Company can fulfill your vending needs, visit Coca-Cola Vending Solutions or contact your Coca-Cola representative.

Published: September 11, 2012