The Idea:
International Social Hub
Funka Group owns and manages several Italian restaurants, bars, and a night club in Shanghai. One of the venues, Funkadeli, is the social hub for international communities in China to enjoy Italian drinks and food for more than a decade. Both the locals and the tourists love Funka Group’s venues for the unique vibes at each location around the city.
"Something Digital"
The Funka Group management team wants to enhance the brand’s connection with their large & loyal customer community. Their idea is to have something digital that seamlessly unifies and integrates the online and offline experiences at their venues.
FunkaCoins!
Together, we come up with a digital currency called FunkaCoins which can be earned & spent at any of Funka’s locations (bars, restaurants, and even night club) as well as online.
The Challenge:
Funka’s digital presence is shattered on major review apps and social media, such as TikTok, Xiaohongshu, and 3rd party delivery platforms. Although their idea is vague, I’ve managed to decode “something digital” with workshops and market research.
Essentially, the challenges are also the goals. What the management team wants is to:
- Have an easy-to-use CRM tool;
- Collect sales insights;
- Improve retention and manage promotions;
- Integrate with WeChat to leverage the social element;
- Become the cool player in the F&B scene.
The Solution:
Put Funka In Your Pocket
A comprehensive WeChat-based and POS-integrated system designed to enhance customer loyalty, streamline business operations, and expand sales channels.
1. Holistic O2O Experience.
My definition of O2O is both Online-to-Offline and vice versa. This product seamlessly blends the online and offline customer journey. Customers can engage with Funka Group online through the WeChat mini-program for various activities that directly impact their offline experiences in the venues: dine-in, pick-up, or event entries — all in one.
2. User-Friendly, Funky, Loyal.
Unlike other dine-in or delivery app on the market with clunky and overwhelming UI, the Funka Mini-program provides clear visuals, straightforward navigation, and a unique and bold design. It has received so much love & appreciation from the loyal customers and the new.
3. Designed to be social.
The product takes in the form of WeChat Mini-program which powers loyalty program & e-shop. This means:
- Easy login with WeChat accounts.
- Timely sync with Funka WeChat Official Account for marketing & content.
- QR codes for invites, coupons, and check-ins
- Promotions shared via articles, chats, and wallets.
- WeChat Pay seamless transactions.
4. Gamification is fun :)
The built-in promoter revenue earning mechanism empowers venue promoters, influencers, and Funka’s business partners to share trackable coupons to earn rewards. Powerful tools designed:
- Dashboard shows Total Reach, Redeems, Sales.
- Referral QR codes let members invite friends.
- Earn 1 FunkaCoin per successful transaction using affiliated coupon.
- Rewards tied to coupon use, sales, or targets.
- Gamified system: incentivizes sharing & performance tracking.
5. The Ops team is covered!
The Funka Mini-program is also designed with staff efficiency in mind. Operating right from a phone or tablet, staff can manage tables, process orders, scan member IDs and coupons, and handle payments.
It streamlines dine-in operations, improves service speed, and supports effortless coupon redemption and member interactions.
The Results:
Behind the Funka mini app, there’s the Admin Portal that provides the managing partners with a powerful backend interface to oversee operations, manage user accounts, and configure coupons and promotion campaigns. It offers access to detailed data and insights, ensuring full visibility and control over the FunkaCoins system. After launch for a year, the results have been excellent.
User Base Growth
Repeat Visits Increase
Sharing Activities Increase
* User base growth reached 200% compared to the number of WeChat Official Account followers before the app launch.
* Previously, Repeat Visits were manually estimated by store managers. With the Funka mini-app, monthly repeat visit data is now more precise and shows an average increase of 150% compared to pre-app figures.
* Sharing activities refer to users making referrals and sharing marketing content from the app.
👀 Product Mind Map:
Executive Summary:
🛠️ Development
- Digital & Tech Director / O2O / Loyalty Program
- Agile Development / Project Management
- WeChat Integration / POS Integration
- 3rd-Party Collaboration
📐 Design
- Customer-Centric Mobile-First UI/UX
- Bi-lingual Interface & UX Copywriting
- Gamification / User Engagement
- Product Design for Business Owners
