As human beings, failures are much more than successes. After falling, we gain specific experiences, learn something new, and grow up. It is called “No pain, no gain” isn’t it? 

Tim Hortons is famous worldwide for its robust coffee and traditional Canadian familiarity. This is the most popular brand in Canada. Thousands of stores are located worldwide, mainly in Canada and the USA. With the size of this brand, it shows gratitude to clients through a loyalty program. It has been strongly pushed recently and had a big change last year. However, as a business, is there any opportunity for a brand to stand up or continue trying with its ideas?

Let’s deep dive into Tim Hortons as a case study of applying to a new loyalty program that seemed like a failure after a year of running a new version. Now, it’s show time – Tim’s Rewards!

Tim Rewards and its impact on clients

Loyalty programs are among the most popular and successful marketing strategies in many industries, especially the F&B sector. Firstly, everyone enjoys the sense of getting rewards or “bargains” from redeeming points. Secondly, customers have a better impression of the brand and are more likely to return to purchase food and beverages if they believe in the brand’s values and look out for them.

Likewise, Tim Rewards used these factors to create customer relationships and increase business retention. Successfully applying a customer engagement strategy, Tim Hortons becomes a symbol of representing Canada’s fast-food brand.

Tim’s Rewards and precious lessons from the brand

Does any business dare to change its loyalty program, even if that program is so successful and widely recognized by many customers? A new loyalty program of Tim Hortons – New Tim’s Rewards is an example of adjusting things that are familiar to clients, causing controversy around Tim’s customer circle. Launching this program is hard but might benefit all clients and Tim as a brand.

Following the aforementioned factors, the new Tim Rewards program is the best example of a valuable customer program. This both improves brand awareness and profit for the business. Moreover, the lesson of changing the earning and redemption rules leaves lessons for business owners in running a loyalty program.

Tim Hortons Rewards Program – A Tasty Treats Menu

A quick look at Tim Hortons Rewards – a cross-channel loyalty program 

Tim’s Rewards program is used point-based loyalty program. The earning rule is straightforward: the clients will earn 10 points for a dollar. Then, with 300 points, customers can choose to change or redeem the points for free food and beverages or save for a larger combo.

With the changes in April 2022, there are more offers for customers and upgrades on the app. Due to this adjustment, the more rewards Tim Hortons suggested for its guests, the more competitive advantages compared to the big men in the F&B industry, such as Starbucks. Starbucks also applies this type of loyalty program, proving that this type of customer program works effectively. Thus, many big brands apply and develop to fit all customer profiles.

When technology meets human ingenuity

Tim’s Rewards is designed and developed to be a cross-channel loyalty program. The guests can collect points and search for free redeemed items. Through personalized offers, promotions, competitions, and interactive activities, Tim slowly learns about its guests and makes them feel more engaged with the brand. Furthermore, Tim Rewards relaunched the mobile app with loyalty, which seems to be the heart of this program.

On the app, there are many options of activities bringing convenience to clients while they are at Tim Hortons restaurant, including:

• Scan for Tim Rewards: pay and collect points at the same time on the system
• My Rewards & Offers: recommend rewards to customers
• Redeem section: when the clients get enough points, the Redemption section will list the available offers to order and pick up without waiting in line.

Why Tim Horton’s Rewards was so successful? 

They offered many rewards variety

It is true to say that Tim Hortons is one of the most generous businesses when it recommends tons of practical rewards. Few brands suggest as many offers as Tim Hortons, both general and exclusive. As a member of Tim’s Rewards, the perks included:

• Rack-up point. Get rewards: the basic offers for Tim’s Rewards when the guests have enough Tim points. 
• Score exclusive offers: personalized offers are given every new week; check for the best offer for you. This option is special since some specific clients are getting offers at once. This made me curious and hopeful to receive some unexpected gifts from Tim, which increased customer retention.
• Timbits Tuesday: default discount on Tuesday, as Tim’s member purchases, each dollar gets 10 packs of Timbits (cookies) free.
• Tims Faster: a way to push the member to use Tim Reward’s app, there is no time wasted while pre-ordering online.
• Birthday treats on us: another reward that makes the guest feel special to the brand. A little celebration helps raise the excitement of the guests to the brand, which is good for customer engagement.
• Unlock play: join Tim games to get more points, more personalized offers, more fun, and much closer between the brand and customers.

 Double-Double Delight is the most impressive

ate the market. This brand is famous not only for its loyalty program but for being established in 1964 with quality coffee and donuts as well. Therefore, around Canada, there are terms to say about this brand:

• Timmies: as known as Tim Hortons coffee and fast-food restaurant chain. It is a joke that you are not originally Canadian if you do not know or love this brand.
• Roll up the Rim to Win: around the end of winter, during this time, whenever guests buy hot drinks, they can receive a special paper cup with a particular code as a chance to win store prizes.
• Double-double: a program for special treats, which is loved on Tim’s menu. Two shots of cream and two shots of sugar with the original brewed coffee. 

Plus, double-double is also a bonus point day to its program for the changes in the new version of the loyalty program. In addition to launching, patrons double the points for four days in a row. Increasing customer excitement and involvement with the program is the main target.

They provided seamless integration

A smooth process when using Tim Hortons’ app helps users/members feel familiar with searching for offers and redeeming their favorites. They understand clearly when the points are accumulated due to their transactions or decreased by redemption. 

Seamless integration shows an extent of understanding about the brand’s clients. Since a brand deeply empathizes with its client, it will know which offers or activities are the best and the most impressive. After successfully attracting clients and making it easier to interact with the brand, the customer-brand relationship is built through the app as a communication tool.

In the age of technology and digitalization, providing clients with an app with straightforward guidance to use for purchasing or tracking their points is necessary. The more user-friendly the app is, the more engaged loyalty clients are. This is the most important factor for a customer program’s aims – raising retention and boosting repeated purchases.

III. A Bitter Aftertaste: Where Tim Rewards Can Improve? 

In June 2022, Tim Rewards changed its loyalty program from a visit-based program to a spending-based program. After launching the new earning rules, this movement disappointed some guests and made them feel unhappy. Basically, as a former program, 10 Tim points for a visit, since Jun 2022, 10 Tim points for $1 spent. In the situation of worldwide inflation from 2021 to the present, the reward ranges have changed either.

After launching for a while, here are some lessons left that shop owners have to take:

Lesson 1: Changing Landscape

During global inflation is highly serious, especially in the period of the first and the second quarters in previous years, Tim Hortons changed the earning point rules for many things, which hurt Tim’s lovers. While the offers’ points go up, the clients must spend more to get enough points to redeem. It is hard for customers since they have to pay more just to get the same gifts as before.

Applying new rules will cause an extent of confusion, and interest in the brand is inevitable.  So, many loyal Timmies consumers will leave to choose a much easier gift program.

Lesson 2: Value Inconsistency

According to Global News, a Canadian reward member shared the opinion that the changes / new version of the Tims Rewards gave them a feeling of “massive devaluation” from the brand. Different rules, different offers, and higher points for just the offers before applying cause unfair feelings. And, of course, no more excitement and no happy emotion! Customers will choose better loyalty programs with more valuable offers at the same spend.

Therefore, keeping consistency in business is crucial, especially related to customer’s needs and maintaining the brand-customer relationship. This also clarifies the meaning behind the strategy’s name, the loyalty program. It is easy to see why multinational billion-dollar corporations devote significant time and money to this program. If customers do not have a clear vision, all resources will disappear because no one joins in.

Lesson 3: Stuck in the Middle

On the one hand, applying this loyalty program is lucrative on the business side. It is transparent that 10 points for $1 pushes the amount of spending so much, compared to earning points for each visit. On the other hand, on the customer side, the consumers would join other customer programs when they see there are many benefits they can receive. A complicated customer engagement program is really hard to attract members.

How to Create a Better Loyalty Program

Tim Hortons is a very big brand that dominates the fast-food Canada market. But it does not mean the smaller or start-up unit cannot learn and do the same things as Tims. Here are some of the recommendations for store owners running a lucrative strategy as a loyalty program.

Maintain Reward Value

Consistent values and send them to customers in the sincerest way! Clients are always considering before making a purchase or transaction, unless your business wants to spread out the good things to the community, customers will turn their backs when they see it as not valuable at all.

Building trust and satisfaction when clients are strangers is hard to achieve, but maintaining the member’s retention is much harder. Tim’s Rewards is a practical example: a change makes waves of customer dissatisfaction.

Keep it Simple

If you want to expand your stores, besides creating a customer program, ensure that the program can reach as much of the targeted audience as possible. To achieve the aim, first of all, it has to be simple and easy to understand the whole rule once, and the rewards must be achievable. Guest who doesn’t want to join in a program or an activity when they clearly understand it, and it benefits them? Now, a high engagement rate becomes true!

Personalize the perks

Taking care of existing customers is one of the purposes of a loyalty program. Your business responsibilities are making customers feel they are special, providing things they need, and maximizing repeated purchases while using emotional connection. It is a win-win situation; each side has its perks, and a strong connection and high retention are created. 

Transparency is key

Through the case study of Tim rewards, despite being announced a while before, when applying new rules of collecting points and redemption, it was a shock for this brand’s customers. Expressing their unhappiness about the new Tims Rewards, they shared they felt punished when they were not spending much money once. Both new and old clients were upset because of the changes. 

It can be a struggle for Tim Hortons at that time. So, to avoid this situation, your business must be clear the very first time, with no confusion and no changes. Maintaining the relationship is key when connecting and communicating with customers. 

Focus on Engagement

After creating a loyalty program for your business, you should continuously develop the quality by adding games to build customer retention and more actions on social media to attract more people. Even though Tim Hortons is the biggest fast-food restaurant in Canada, compared to Starbucks’ customer program which is dynamic and young while applying many technologies and games to attract types of customers. Tim is quite old and outdated when it uses traditional point-based purchasing.

So, a loyalty program boosts revenue and creates more friendships with the customers; you need to update and run this program effectively on multiple media platforms so as not to waste resources investing in it.

Conclusion

There are lessons from the Tim Hortons Rewards program that a shop owner should learn, including the successful points and the improvements. Numerous perks when registering to be a Tim’s member, from redeeming gifts to personalized offers, also birthday gifts are advantages. Moreover, as a Canadian, a double-double treat is so special for its members.

Flip to another side, Tim Hortons Rewards announced to change in its loyalty program last year, causing a wave of disappointment to the brand.

This failure from a big brand like Timmies is “a wake-up call” for the SMEs or online shops gaining more experience in building a customer engagement program and how to maintain it for a long-term relationship with customers. Successfully running this program, there are both increasing the amount of members and being profitable for your business.

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