Usage-based pricing vs. Subscription-based pricing

Our approach to pricing 

Rather than charge a subscription that you have to pay every month regardless of how sales are doing, we take a small % of ONLY the features we know will GROW your business. Then, we provide workflow and admin tools to save you time and improve the efficiency of your business - at no cost.

Our approach to usage-based pricing has has 3 major benefits: 

• You never worry about overhead and losing profitability during seasonal dips 
• You only pay for the things that GROW your business 
• You partner with a company that is incentivized to grow your business

What would it cost to buy these tools separately?

To answer that question, we researched the least expensive alternatives and pulled together pricing from companies like Square, Toast, and add-ons from white label app providers, KDS, and more. You can see a full price breakdown by feature on this blog. 

Point of Sale + Shop Management Tools

When it comes to the tech it takes to run a coffee shop, the best place to start is at the Point-of-Sale Terminal.  From there, conventional POS systems charge software fees for admin and ops tools, rewards programs, loyalty marketing and more. 

In our usage-based pricing model, we only charge for payments that actively drive growth to your business which include: 

• Rewards Participation (on opt-ins only) including the cost to cover redemptions
• Mobile payments which are typically incremental to in-person orders
• New customers that discover you through the app. These orders are free for POS customers and 10% for mobile-order only partners

We added up the cost of the lowest priced alternative across the following features: In Person Payment, Rewards, Loyalty Marketing Tools, Workflow Management Add Ons, Web Ordering, Payroll + Accounting tools.

Typically, these companies charge on a software + volume based fee structure on their marketing tools based on volume of customer profiles (people opting in to rewards program) and visits and there is no cap to the cost.

Similarly, other companies charge incrementally for workflow and admin tools. KDS typically goes for $25 per screen and employee management tools like Shifts go for $5 / employee each month.

At joe, we provide unlimited customer profiles, campaigns, messaging, and workflow tools including our KDS screen employee tools for free as part of our platform strategy. We only charge commission on the tools that actively drive sales for your business. 

Price Range:  Starting at $194 / mo  

Branded App Experience

Starting at $300 per month per location and climbing to well over $1000, branded apps provide a limited customer experience because they don't seamlessly connect with in-person purchases and customer data, are separate from the in-person rewards and loyalty system you use, and don't extend to the physical gift cards that many of your customers prefer. 

At joe, shops running on the POS activate a branded experience in the app that is part of a single cohesive platform. This gives your customers the most intuitive and easy-to-use experience in the category. 

From a pricing standpoint, you would need to earn $10,000 / month via mobile orders for joe to cost the same as the LOWEST cost branded app alternative.  Even then, it wouldn't offer a cohesive customer experience where rewards, promos, and loyalty cards can be utilized across app, web, POS, kiosk, and integrated into your marketing campaigns and CRM as they are with joe. 

Price Range: $300 - $425+ 

Digital Wallets (Stored Value Cards) 

Starbucks has become the 10th largest bank in the world based on customer float from stored value loyalty and gift card programs. At joe, you get a completely integrated solution so customers can add a balance, access the balance, and claim offers designed to maximize gift card loads directly to you coffee shop at no extra cost.

We've rolled out auto-reload capabilities so customers can remove the friction from checkout when ordering at your business. Plus, you can create offers, send virtual cards directly to customers, and run marketing campaigns to custom audience segments to maximize preloads and generate free cashflow for your business. 

Sold separately, companies charge $159+ per month on the low end. At joe, it's been built in for free since day one and is fully integrated into every point of purchase as well as your marketing and CRM tools.

Price Range: $159+

Plus, there are a couple categories you can't get with any subscription: 

New Customers via 3rd Party Marketplace Apps

Joe offers the only POS that actually brings you new customers. The customers that discover you on joe, use the app because they believe in discovering and supporting local coffee shops wherever they go. Plus, joe users are more likely to come back in the future.

For shops running on the full payments and relationship platform including the POS, getting new customers through the app is free as part of the service. 

Compare that with the 30%+ that marketplaces like DoorDash, UberEats and other charge for bringing you a customer. This aspect of joe provides the highest ROI of any marketing solution that exists for coffee shops. 

Price Range: 30% + 

Capabilities Exclusive to joe (Meet or beat Starbucks)

By bringing all of these tools together from the customer point-of-view, joe is the only solution that creates an experience for your customers that's on par with Starbucks thereby unlocking the same benefits.   

These features you can't get anywhere else include, but are not limited to: 

• Access customer favorites w/ modifiers saved for 1-tap reordering
• Ability to send loyalty card credits via campaigns to custom audience segments
• Ability for customers to add, use, or share a stored value card (loyalty and gift card) from the app, POS, web, or kiosk. 
• Ability to earn and redeem rewards at the POS, web, app, and beyond
• Automatically link digital loyalty card to physical card at POS 
• Automatically load or edit loyalty card via physical card, virtual card, or via customer profile
• ... more.