Are Luckin Coffee Discounts Getting Less Generous?

Luckin Coffee has moved from heavy early subsidies to noticeably lighter discounts. A drink now generally costs 15 to 25 yuan, daily 1.8-fold and 3.8-fold coupons have given way to 4.8-fold and 5-fold ones, and some coupons must be grabbed before use. Some regulars even suspect algorithmic price discrimination, since frequent buyers often see smaller discounts, making a cup feel very expensive coffee by comparison.

In response, some users try a method-acting style of ordering: lingering in the mini-program, hesitating, and finally abandoning the purchase in the hope of triggering a retention coupon. The article walks through that behavior and the user-analysis logic behind it, while noting a caveat: chasing freebies still has an integrity line, and Luckin's shift toward full-price sales reflects a broader change in China's coffee market.

Luckin Coffee has gone from frenzied subsidies in its early days to a noticeably reduced discount intensity today, with the price of a drink generally climbing back to the 15–25 yuan range, and some consumers even feeling they've been subjected to algorithmic price discrimination against regulars. As the halo of cost-effectiveness gradually fades, some netizens have figured out a "method-acting style ordering" trick — repeatedly hesitating in the mini-program and ultimately abandoning the purchase, trying to trigger Luckin's retention mechanism to obtain coupons. Does this maneuver actually work? What user behavior analysis logic lies behind it? This article will sort out the full picture of this phenomenon, while reminding consumers: even when chasing freebies, one must uphold the bottom line of integrity.

Luckin Coffee was able to reverse its decline and ascend to the top spot in China's coffee market, and every cup sold contributed a share of that effort. Recall the early Luckin: the price of a coffee was almost on par with Mixue Bingcheng's lemonade, the first cup free for new users, and the second cup slashed to a rock-bottom price.

After weathering the financial fraud scandal, Luckin struggled through twists and turns to regain its footing, no longer continuing the old path of burning cash on subsidies, and its drink pricing gradually returned to normal. The 1.8-fold and 3.8-fold discount coupons that used to be available every day have now been replaced by 4.8-fold and 5-fold coupons, and sometimes even discount coupons have to be grabbed before you can get one.

For Luckin, which has always stood on cost-effectiveness, pushing new products intensively while shrinking subsidies — this combination punch has indeed brought the brand considerable profit returns.

However, the price of a cup of Luckin now mostly falls between 15 and 25 yuan, and some customers even complain that Luckin engages in algorithmic price discrimination against regulars — the more frequently you buy, the smaller the discount, and a price of over twenty yuan a cup is already approaching Starbucks, making one wonder what's the point of drinking Luckin.

When Luckin no longer seems "cost-effective," some netizens have come up with new tricks in the game of chasing freebies.

A blogger on Xiaohongshu posted the complete process of "method-acting style ordering": deliberately showing hesitation when placing an order in the Luckin mini-program might just get you a coupon issued by Luckin.

Some netizens reported in the comments that they followed along and acted it out, and after the scene of "in the end, I still won't drink it" came to a close, Luckin indeed sent a coupon trying to retain them.

However, another group of netizens said that after completing the entire process in the tutorial, they did not receive any coupon.

While writing this article, I also tried the "hesitant ordering" maneuver in the Luckin WeChat mini-program. A few minutes later, when I reopened the mini-program, I found that Luckin had indeed issued a coupon.

Less than a minute after closing the mini-program, Luckin pushed a 9.9 yuan coupon for a specific product.

Just showing a "very hesitant" posture can be exchanged for a discount, which reflects the huge price disparity in Luckin's drinks before and after, and the pricing of the same product also varies from store to store. If you don't compare prices with others, you'll never know whether the cup of Luckin you ordered was bought expensive or cheap.

Regarding this "method-acting style ordering" approach, some netizens expressed understanding for Luckin's willingness to relent first when facing hesitant customers: on a low-frequency consumption platform, to increase the single-visit conversion rate, certain interventions imposed on users within the product path are necessary, and retention when a user exits is one such means. But whether you ultimately get a coupon doesn't depend only on those few seconds of lingering during the method-acting style ordering; it is also determined by comprehensive historical behavioral data.

Life is like a play, and seeking benefits through "superb" acting seems clever. But chasing freebies must also uphold the principle of integrity; even if a merchant platform has technical loopholes, it doesn't mean they can be exploited illegally at will.

Image source: Internet

For more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat public account cafe_style) For professional coffee knowledge exchange, please add WeChat ID kaixinguoguo0925

The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.