Who'd have thunk it?  Good old coffee is able to provide us with sufficient nutrition, vitamins, minerals and fibre to render brussels sprouts entirely redundant.  Of course, I may have got Pret A Manger's new digital initiative totally wrong but I'm hoping not.

News broke on Friday 4 September that UK-based Food-on-the-Go chain Pret A Manger is to introduce a digital subscription-based service allowing subscribers up to five coffees a day for a monthly fee of £20.  Taking a mid-priced regular cappuccino as an example (currently c.£2.15), you don't have to be a master mathematician to work out that, even if as a subscriber you opt to take advantage of just one cup per weekday you're going to be quids-in at the end of the month.  The more you drink, obviously the better the offer becomes, with Pret already having thought about how to avoid you 'getting a round in' for your mates by stipulating a mandatory 30-minute minimum wait time between coffee orders.

The news has sparked significant comment.  Reaction has tended to fall into two distinct camps: the scheme is either an act of sheer desperation from a major Hospitality player struck severely by the pandemic's consequences or a stroke of utter digital genius, a revolutionary step-change in how we can consume coffee.  It's a little like the oft-used metaphor pertaining to whether you see life's challenges and opportunities as 'glass half-full' of 'glass half-empty' - although in today's climate, I, for one, am simply grateful to still have a glass at all...

Along with many of its city-centre and transport hub competitors, Pret A Manger has been particularly badly hit by lockdown since commuters and urban workers have stayed at home as I talked about just last week.  Personally, I find this initiative both intriguing and exciting, because there is clearly much strategic thought behind it and it leverages Digital Transformation in an attempt to create competitive advantage.  Let's have a look at just five reasons why this could work:

1. It's a monthly subscription service.  As consumers we're used to them now, with digital services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime and the like being wholly accepted business models.  It hasn't been used for Food-on-the-Go until now, but why shouldn't it work here, too?
2. It's a Digital model.  Pret's 'YourPret Barista' solution is a clever use of App-based technology to create Loyalty as well as administering the 5-a-day offer.  The analytics which will come as a result of customer take-up will provide in-depth insight into use of the offer, demographic behaviours, geographical trends, consumer site/store 'promiscuity' and a wealth of additional, useful business-oriented feedback.
3. Sunken monthly subscription = less likelihood of customers' propensity to purchase elsewhere.  If you're already paying for the service, why pay more to get a coffee from McCostaBucks?
4. Retail 101: Cross-sell opportunities.  You're taking advantage of an early morning Americano - would you like a cinnamon danish to go with that?  How about a chicken, avocado and basil sandwich to accompany your lunchtime flat white?
5. Industry sub-sector competitive advantage.  Pret A Manger is first to market here in the UK with such an initiative and, whilst it remains to be seen if it will appeal to consumers in the numbers Pret is hoping for to make the scheme financially viable/successful, innovators often reap competitive first-mover advantage, whether that be in terms of monetary return or mid-/longer-term technical (Data) analytical strategic insight enabling more agile business evolution.  Or ideally both.

Pret's news came from left field in many ways.  In desperately struggling times, a player in a sub-sector of high-street Hospitality has taken the bold move to innovate and, as a result, has caught the competition napping.  I'm sure that those competitors will play the catch-up game in double-quick time - unless they choose to sit back to see how Pret's bravery plays out.

But by then it could, of course, be too late.  It's going to be fascinating to see how things pan out for Pret A Manger - as a Retail technological Data evangelist I wish the business well.