al SS SO le BS erg aan a See So, if you’re trying to shape your customers’ behaviour, harness uncertainty. If you have a loyalty scheme, stop offering every customer the same incentive each time they visit. Instead add a dash of randomness. This is Pret’s approach to boosting coffee sales. Unlike its competitors, it doesn’t require its drinkers to collect reams of stamps in return for a free coffee. Instead, it empowers its staff to randomly reward customers with a free drink every so often. Their tactic creates a far more positive reaction than the standard transactional approach. Here’s the journalist Harry Wallop in The Times commenting on what it felt like to be given a free Pret coffee: It was possibly the most powerful consumer loyalty programme in Britain. As a customer, you felt as if you’d won the lottery. I’d return to the office like a conquering hero and be applauded by colleagues for my stunning good fortune. God, I loved Pret.
