TWO SHOPS,ONE STREET.

Two cafés, a few doors apart, with the same coffee and the same regulars. Neither has ever had a loyalty card, like almost every café in Lebanon. One carries on the way it always has. The other starts Kartak. Here are their first three months.

Café SabahStamps6 of 10
RewardFree coffeeCard0142
  1. Same street. Two cafés.
  2. Same coffee. Same prices.
  3. One is always full.
  4. It has a system.
  5. They tap at the counter. One tap.
  6. The card is in their wallet. No app.
  7. Every stamp lands on their lock screen.
  8. Write to them. Like a text.
  9. It reaches every card, at no extra cost.
  10. Next door…
  11. The barista knows every face. For now.
  12. Then he leaves. So do the faces.
  13. Which café do you want to be?
Make my card

Example. Both cafés are made up.

Shops and a parked scooter on Hamra Street, Beirut, 2023
Hamra Street, 2023
A crowded covered market lit at night, Souk Ayass, Beirut, 1970
Souk Ayass, 1970
A cup of Lebanese coffee on a silver tray, with sugar and a glass of water.
Lebanese coffee, 2024
  1. Two doors. Same street.
  2. Day one. A sticker on one counter. Café Zawye: Nothing changes. Joe, the barista, knows Rima takes a double espresso with no sugar. Café Sabah: The Kartak sticker goes on the counter. Rima taps it, and the card is in her wallet before her coffee is poured.
  3. Week three. Joe leaves for Dubai. Café Zawye: Joe leaves for a job in Dubai. The new barista doesn't know Rima, and the coffee Joe used to give her on the house stops. Café Sabah: Joe leaves for Dubai too. Rima's card still has six stamps, and the new barista sees her name when he scans it.
  4. Week five. A new café opens. Café Zawye: A new café opens across the street with half-price coffee for a month. Rima tries it. Nothing brings her back. Café Sabah: The same new café opens. Rima is four stamps from a free coffee, so she keeps coming.
  5. Week seven. A slow Tuesday. Café Zawye: A slow Tuesday. The owner posts a story. It is gone by Wednesday, seen by whoever happened to scroll. Café Sabah: A slow Tuesday. The owner writes "Double stamps until noon" and it shows on every customer's lock screen. A few faces from last month are back by eleven.
  6. Month three. Who knows more? Café Zawye: The owner knows the regulars by face, and not much more. Café Sabah: The owner opens the dashboard: every card, who is one stamp from a reward, and who hasn't been in for three weeks.
  7. Which door is yours?

What made it happen

  • The card in the walletOne tap at the counter. No app to download.
  • A name on every cardThe new barista sees who they are serving.
  • Messages and the dashboardReach every card, and see who stopped coming.
Make my card

Example. Every name here is made up.

Three months later

Café Zawye

  • Who the regulars are, if the right barista is on shift
  • Not how many come back
  • Not who stopped coming

Café Sabah

  • 212 customers carry the card
  • 38 are one stamp from a reward
  • 17 haven't been in for three weeks, and can get a note today

Same street, same coffee. The difference is a shop that knows its regulars after the barista leaves, and can reach them when the street gets busier.

Book a demoSee what that dashboard looks like
Men in fezzes at the tables of a café terrace under a tree, Beirut, around 1900
Café at the public garden, around 1900