Belly will run 7-Eleven’s digital loyalty program in 2,600 convenience stores
Given 7-Eleven participated in digital loyalty startup Belly’s most recent $12 million funding round, you would figure the convenience store giant was bound to start installing Belly’s iPad rewards terminals in retail locations around the country. Well, that roll-out begins began this month, and by the end of this year 2,600 7-Eleven stores in North America will start awarding points and handing out free cups of coffee and Slurpees to Belly’s growing user base.
Belly started out in Chicago as a rewards program for small businesses that didn’t have the resources to create their own amenity programs. Instead of joining a bunch of individual loyalty programs, customers just signed up for one, Belly, using its app to check into iPad terminals at any participating business. Each check-in accrues a certain number of points, which can be exchanged for goods or services determined by the retailer that awarded them, for instance a free appetizer at a restaurant or an invitation to an exclusive wine-tasting at a liquor store.
But in 2013, Belly began attracting the interest of several big national retail and restaurant chains. Its iPads began popping up in McDonalds, Chick-fil-As and 7-Elevens around Chicago. 7-Eleven launched in 85 Chicago store originally, but it expanded its pilot of Austin and Los Angeles.
Earlier this month 7-Eleven began to install Belly’s terminals in 465 new locations in New York City and Vancouver and by the end of the year it plans to have the program active in 2,600 stores, representing a quarter of its stores in the U.S. and Canada.
I’ve used the Belly app in many a Chicago 7-Eleven, which isn’t hard to do considering they’re almost as numerous as bars in the Windy City, and I have to say that the Belly model works well in a convenience store. Every three to five visits or so you can get a free coffee or a complimentary snack such as a banana.
A Belly iPad terminal, which scans the barcode displayed on your Belly smartphone app (BELLY)
But as Belly becomes more corporate, I’ve also noticed that the small businesses that it previously focused on seem to be leaving or neglecting the program. Our neighborhood wine store stopped accepting Belly one day, while one of our favorite restaurants increasingly started leaving their Belly terminal off.
There are still a lot of local businesses that use Belly here in Chicago, but it does seem that as big chains gain interest in Belly, smaller stores are losing it. Chances are those big retail chains represent a much more profitable market for Belly, which is fine, but it also makes Belly a lot less interesting. Belly’s local businesses have come up with some fairly unique rewards like a free cooking lesson from the chef of a neighborhood bistro or a local pet store’s offer to hand-sketch a portrait of your dog.
Image copyright Shutterstock / Tupungato.
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