Krispy Kreme Begins Using NCR Mobile Payment, Loyalty Tech

Lovers of Krispy Kreme doughnuts and coffee now have a mobile app to pay for their purchases and receive rewards.

Krispy Kreme worked with NCR Corp. to develop the rewards app and integrate it with the NCR Aloha point of sale terminal and NCR Engage Mobile. The system allows restaurant patrons to scan a bar code off their smartphone screens to pay from a payment card linked to the app, earning reward points in the process.

App users can also find Krispy Kreme locations and receive the company's "Hot Now" notifications when fresh doughnuts are available. The application should be available in all Krispy Kreme locations in the U.S. by the end of the year, the company stated in a Nov. 30 press release.

Though mobile payment apps have a bumpy track record, they have proven most popular in the coffee-and-doughnut category of quick-serve restaurants. Starbucks, long considered the model for mobile payment and customer engagement, recently reported that 21% of its U.S. sales come through its mobile app, and a new order-and-pay system is growing in popularity as well. Dunkin' Donuts recently began testing pre-ordering and delivery service from its mobile app in the U.S.

In the future, Krispy Kreme could expand the application to include pre-ordering and payment as a way to eliminate waiting in lines at the stores.

“Restaurants that don’t proactively embrace omnichannel consumer engagement may find themselves ‘locked out’ in an increasingly competitive battle for consumer mindshare,” Paul Langenbahn, president of NCR Hospitality, said in the release. “NCR understands the entire restaurant ecosystem needed to enable a frictionless consumer engagement experience, and we were happy to work with Krispy Kreme and help them deliver on their unique consumer engagement vision.”