How Pickcel Helped Second Cup Coffee Streamline their Menu Management and Branding Across Franchisees

Second Cup Coffee is a Canadian coffee chain that operates more than 1,100 restaurants under the Foodtastic brand. The company has a strong presence in Canada and the Middle East, where it offers a variety of hot and cold beverages, baked goods, sandwiches, and snacks to its customers. Second Cup Coffee is a franchisee-driven business, which means that each restaurant is owned and operated by an independent entrepreneur who follows the brand’s guidelines and standards.

One of the main challenges that Second Cup Coffee faced was maintaining consistency of brand communication across its franchisee network. This included ensuring that the menus displayed to the customers were accurate, up-to-date, and aligned with the brand’s design and identity.

However, managing menus manually was a time-consuming and error-prone process that required printing, laminating, and replacing paper menus whenever there was a change in the product offerings, prices, or promotions. Moreover, each franchisee had different needs and preferences regarding their menu items, such as adding or removing certain products, modifying prices, or offering local specials.

Therefore, Second Cup Coffee needed a solution that would allow them to centralize their menu management while giving their franchisees the flexibility to customize their menus according to their requirements.

Second Cup Coffee wanted a custom-made solution that would enable them to manage their menus digitally and efficiently. The solution consisted of the following components:

Standard menu templates: Second Cup's marketing team could define standard menu templates, encapsulating the brand's visual identity and aesthetics. These templates included the product categories, names, descriptions, images, prices, and nutritional information. The templates also had placeholders for advertisements or promotional content that could be inserted by the franchisees.

Individual login: Each franchisee received a personalized login, endowing them with the ability to add, update, or modify menu items, reflecting their unique offerings and customer preferences. From there, they could select the menu template that suited their restaurant layout and screen size, and edit it according to their needs. They could also add or update items, change prices, or remove products from their menus in real-time.

Advertisement content: Franchisee owners were also granted the prerogative to embed promotional content, such as images and videos, within their menus, thereby enhancing customer engagement. This way, they could showcase their special offers, seasonal products, loyalty programs, or social media campaigns to attract more customers and increase sales.

As a result of using Pickcel’s solution, Second Cup Coffee was able to improve its menu management and branding across its franchisee network. The company reported the following outcomes:

Increased customer satisfaction: Second Cup Coffee’s customers appreciated the digital menus that provided them with clear and accurate information about the products they were buying. They also enjoyed seeing the advertisement content that informed them about the latest offers and specials available at their favorite coffee store.

Reduced operational costs: Second Cup Coffee’s franchisees saved money by eliminating the need for printing and replacing paper menus. They also reduced waste by avoiding overstocking or understocking of products based on real-time data from their digital menus.

Enhanced brand reputation: Second Cup Coffee’s brand reputation improved as it demonstrated its commitment to innovation and quality by using digital signage technology. The company also gained a competitive edge over its rivals by offering a unique and engaging customer experience.