YCD MULTIMEDIA ADDS A LITTLE ZEST TO AROMA ESPRESSO CUSTOMERS' EXPERIENCE

As one of Israel’s largest café chains, Aroma has been expanding rapidly throughout the world with over 140 locations in 9 countries.  After opening their first U.S. location in New York City in 2006, Aroma has seen much positive growth throughout North America. Looking to expand further, Aroma sought to grow their client base and differentiate themselves from their competitors by establishing their identity as a destination for dining, and not just an “errand stop”.

As Aroma considered their options two main challenges became apparent early on. The first was that the Aroma café locations needed to provide an environment to their customers that had a modern and streamlined aesthetic. Second, Aroma needed to simplify the management of their promotions and pricing throughout their many locations. This had to be done with a digital merchandising solution that would be easy to use, efficient and allow Aroma headquarters to remotely control and update all of its elements.

Together with LG Electronics, YCD Multimedia worked side-by-side with Aroma to create a complete customer experience including digital menu board displays and synchronized content developed by Aroma’s in-house designers. LG Electronics provided Aroma with 55” LCD widescreen HD capable display monitors while YCD Multimedia designed Aroma’s content management system built using their RAMP software.

The beauty of YCD’s RAMP platform was that it fully synchronized the visual content, and allowed users to manage, upload, and monitor everything including the in-store music from an online platform that could be accessed from any computer. On top of that, Aroma executives also had the power to control all of the elements of the in-store digital merchandising through a single interface.  Changes to pricing, menu options, promotional items and even the menu’s color scheme could easily be managed at one location.  Promotions could also be filtered and separately managed by corporate, region or individual franchises, while pricing and content could be customized by region, store and time of day.

Due to Aroma’s incredible growth and expected growth moving forward, YCD Multimedia designed their RAMP CMS to be completely scalable, and would continue to grow with Aroma, while keeping costs low providing the same tailored functionality. The proof about this solution’s effectiveness were immediately evident in Aroma’s sales revenue numbers, where there was a 68% increase on promoted desserts and a 52% increase on promoted coffee and pastry items. These staggering numbers also came with another bonus, as Aroma saved considerable on promotional printing, distribution and logistics costs.

As a result Aroma’s store environments were transformed into an appealing, modernized and familiar atmosphere that would keep their established customers returning and attract new potential customers as well. Gil Kiyarti, CEO of Aroma Espresso Bar US, spoke very highly of the YCD’s RAMP system saying, “Using YCD Multimedia’s RAMP is definitely a great marketing tool that helps maintain up-to-date marketing efforts by modifying our digital menu boards as soon as we need to present new items. The availability of these flexible options saves us time and money, and with the cooperation of YCD Multimedia we are creating a seamless marketing experience for our customers and our employees.”