Circle K Adds Beacon Technology to Car Wash Subscription Program to Enable Frictionless Customer Journey Across All U.S. Locations
Circle K releases app-based subscription car wash program using identification beacons at terminals across all participating U.S., Canada and European locations
March 30, 2021 – Beacon technology used in tandem with a customer-facing car wash subscription program revolutionizes the customer experience by providing a quick, convenient experience for Circle K across the United States.
Circle K’s vast global network of car washes has digitally transformed operations with its revolutionary car wash subscription program. In 2018, Lars and his team partnered with Liquid Barcodes to develop the app-based subscription program. First launched in Denmark and the U.S. in 2020, the program soon expanded into Canadian stores and the rest of their global markets will soon follow.
Circle K and Liquid Barcodes partnered with Gimbal, a U.S. beacon technology company, to integrate Bluetooth Low-Energy (BLE) Beacons with the car wash payment terminals to provide an instantaneous user verification process. While the non-beacon user authentication process was already quick, the beacon communication cuts that time into milliseconds.
Customers can subscribe in the app to a monthly program for unlimited washes and have several plan options from which to choose, including individual, family, or business plans.
During the initial program implementation, customers opened the app at the store, verified their car’s license plate, scanned a QR code at the car wash payment terminal, and drove-in. On the backend, there was an extremely short wait while the app verified the user before the entry instructions allowed the user to pull forward into the wash bay.
To make the process even faster and easier, Circle K’s newest beacon technology integration involves immediately authenticate the user upon activating the app and pulling the vehicle adjacent to the payment terminal.
According to Ed Van Etten, North American Car Wash Director and Accelerator at Circle K, “we were excited about the potential of a subscription program but we knew we needed to work with real industry experts for it to be successful. Liquid Barcodes gave us the commercial guidance we needed as well as the powerful platform capabilities to run it effortlessly.”
Learn more about Circle K’s Car Wash Subscription Programs
- Circle K’s Use of Beacon Technology to Activate Car Wash Subscription Program
- Let’s Talk Loyalty Podcast Episode #200: Circle K’s Subscription Car Wash Loyalty Programme
- Liquid Barcodes Case Study: Circle K: Unlimited Car Wash Subscription Program
About Circle K’s Car Wash Subscription Program
Circle K is owned by Canada’s Alimentation Couche-Tard, Inc. which operates more than 15,000 stores in twenty countries. Specific to Circle K’s car wash program, there are approximately 2,700 car washes globally, thereby making it the largest car wash network in the world.
About Liquid Barcodes
Liquid Barcodes is a leading global loyalty and digital marketing technology company specializing in the convenience and foodservice industries. Their proprietary cloud-based technology platform allows retailers to create and manage their digital marketing campaigns, including subscriptions, with a proprietary process called the “customer connection cycle” to engage, promote and reward customer activities in real-time across digital and media channels.
Liquid Barcodes has a variety of solutions to meet the individual needs of convenience retailers, ranging from a complete loyalty platform to specific add-on modules for existing loyalty programs. Features such as rewards, gamification, AI and machine learning, and subscriptions for a variety of products and services are customizable to suit retailer needs.
For more information, contact:
Mats Danielsen, CEO, mats.danielsen@liquidbarcodes.com
Saurabh Swarup, head of sales and GM North America, saurabh.swarup@liquidbarcodes.com
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