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CONCEPT: Redesigning the Future of Kung Fu Tea’s Mobile Ordering Process

Not many beverage chains have the luxury of calling themselves the “Starbucks” of their industry.

Luckily for Kung Fu Tea, they don’t have that issue. Once BlueLabel helped them undergo a digital transformation that brought radical simplicity, endless customer options and lighting-fast ordering into an all-in-one mobile experience, Kung Fu Tea officially entered into a league of their own within the world of bubble tea.

EXECUTION
Kung Fu Tea, the largest bubble tea chain in the U.S. with over 350 locations, initially discovered and met with BlueLabel when a critical source of revenue wasn’t generating the level of results they thought it was capable of: their mobile app.

At the start of these conversations, we learned they were using white-labeled software for their mobile experience, and as a result, it was confusing to customers, too clunky, and to be frank, was resulting in Kung Fu Tea leaving a ton of money on the table due to customers’ inability to quickly and efficiently order their favorite bubble tea while on-the-go.

Kung Fu Tea was in need of a major redesign of their mobile experience, and BlueLabel was poised to drive the initiative of taking them through an evolution that would result in a frictionless, yet gamified ordering platform for bubble tea fans nationwide while also increasing revenue.

CHALLENGES
The mobile world that Kung Fu Tea operated in prior to collaborating with BlueLabel looked drastically different than if you downloaded the latest version of the app and placed an order today.

Kung Fu Tea’s mobile business previously ran off a white-labeled solution that didn’t provide much customization and prevented the beverage chain from giving customers the most seamless ordering experience possible. Simply put, it was apparent to Kung Fu Tea’s tech-savvy customer base that their app was designed several years ago.

Aside from the surface-level design issues regarding missing interactivity and a lackluster UI layout, the app led to ordering delays, frustrated customers and even created confusion with how in-app points translate into free beverage rewards.

Thanks to user behavior metrics provided by Segment, Mixpanel and Appsflyer, BlueLabel was able to dig under the hood and truly understand what users were craving. It soon became obvious that Kung Fu Tea was in need of a cleaner, more inviting customer experience that allows simplistic ordering with just a couple of taps.

RESULTS
Since the Redesign Launch, Metrics are Bubbling Up

The numbers just don’t lie. Shortly after the release, the new Kung Fu Tea app doubled in weekly average users and resulted in 5x engagement in its loyalty program!

After a successful soft-launch that allowed Kung Fu Tea’s most loyal “super customers” to test the app, it was released to the app stores nationwide for all to download.

We’ve been working closely with their marketing department to continue refining the product and addressing user feedback as it comes in. As is the nature of mobile apps, user feedback & analytics help us understand what is loved and what areas could be improved upon.

There are numerous items on the roadmap for Kung Fu Tea but the future is looking rather bubbly thanks to the newly laid foundation for their first-ever custom-built mobile experience.