Ink! Coffee, a specialty coffee retailer with multiple stores throughout the greater Denver metro area and Aspen, has launched a mobile gift program.

The coffee shop chain has selected mobile marketing company Mocapay to implement and operate its mobile gift program. Ink! Coffee currently offers plastic gift cards at all of its locations and expects to go live with Mocapay's mobile gift program in the second quarter of this year.

"Since ink! Coffee opened its doors over 10 years ago, they have been dedicated to bringing exceptional coffee to their customers and differentiating themselves in a very competitive market through continued innovation," said Kevin Grieve, CEO of Mocapay, Boulder, CO.

"The partnership between ink! Coffee and Mocapay to mobilize their gift card program enables ink! Coffee to continue growing their brand and strong customer following by providing convenience through mobile payments," he said.

Mocapay provides a mobile commerce platform that supports integrated mobile payments, marketing and distribution at point-of-sale.

For the last decade, ink! Coffee has been serving coffee in eight locations throughout Colorado. Ink! Coffee is also known for gourmet sandwiches, salads and pastries. Further expansion within Colorado and in other key markets is underway.

Through their partnership with Mocapay, ink! Coffee will be able to expand their existing plastic gift card program to appeal to a wider demographic of customers, especially those that visit on a regular basis.

Ink! Coffee mobile gift account holders will be able to transact at the point-of-sale, access their account balance and transaction history, find the nearest ink! Coffee location and reload their gift account, all from their mobile phone.

Prior to launching the mobile gift program, Mocapay will help ink! Coffee to migrate off of their current standalone gift card terminal to a single point-of-sale system.

By integrating their point-of-sale, ink! Coffee will improve the efficiency of their in-store staff to better serve their customers, especially during peak hours.

ShortStop, a Conoco-Phillips branded convenience store, has expanded its mobile gift program to include Mocapay's mobile loyalty services (see story).

"Mocapay will help improve the overall customer experience for ink! Coffee in regards to their gift card program, both within their locations and remotely," Mr. Grieve said. "After the ink! Coffee mobile gift program is launched, their consumers will never forget their gift card, as it will always be on their mobile phone."

Ink! Coffee's target demographic includes all coffee enthusiasts.

"Mocapay will open up a two-way mobile communication vehicle with its most loyal and high frequency customers," Mr. Grieve said. "Since Mocapay's platform is extremely flexible, we offer three different ways of connectivity in order to be compatible on most handsets and with all major wireless carriers in the U.S."

Mocapay supports SMS and WAP/Web 2.0, and is currently developing downloadable applications for specific smartphones.

For the initial launch of the ink! Coffee mobile gift program, customers will request a code via SMS or WAP, which will then be keyed in at the point-of-sale by the cashier.

Mocapay is currently exploring additional methods of POS acceptance for mobile payments to implement at ink! Coffee locations.

Ink! Coffee and Mocapay will collaborate on a customer awareness campaign for the mobile gift program.

The collateral will include in-store signage as well as a takeaway card that will educate the consumer about the mobile gift program and how to register their mobile phone and gift card account at http://www.mocapay.com.

Ink! Coffee also provides free WiFi access to customers in each of its locations, which will include a link to Mocapay for customer registration.

"In addition, ink! Coffee employees will be leveraged for their cross-selling efforts, due to their frequent interaction with their customer base," Mr. Grieve said.