What coffee knowledge can teach us about Luckin's disappearing coupons
Luckin Coffee customers have noticed weaker discounts, with final prices often landing between ten and twenty yuan. Users who had grown used to paying no more than 15 yuan responded with coordinated complaints on social platforms, hoping automated systems would issue coupons, and some did receive lower prices after posting such comments.
The coupon shortage reflects a shift in strategy: Luckin now pushes high-frequency livestreaming and precise targeting instead of blanket coupon distribution. Complaints and threats to switch to Cotti have limited effect on pricing. For anyone following coffee knowledge and brand marketing, the case shows how livestream commerce is replacing direct discounts.
Recently, many consumers have noticed that Luckin Coffee's discounts have weakened significantly, with prices often reaching ten to twenty yuan, leaving netizens accustomed to low-priced coffee feeling dissatisfied. As a result, a collective "PUA" trend against Luckin has emerged on social platforms, attempting to pressure the system into issuing coupons through complaints and threats to switch to Cotti. However, the effectiveness of this approach is questionable. In reality, Luckin's marketing focus has quietly shifted to livestreams, replacing the traditional direct coupon distribution model with high-frequency live interactions and precise user targeting. This article reviews the course of events, netizen reactions, and the reasons behind them, and explores why livestream marketing has become a new favorite for brands. Additionally, relevant information about Front Street Coffee is included at the end for coffee enthusiasts' reference.
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"Cotti really makes me cry, the taste is good and the price is a notch lower than Luckin." "Estimated price 9.9 yuan?! Why do I get 16 while others get 9.9?! Luckin, what are you acting so high and mighty for?! If it doesn't work out, I just won't drink it?!"
Recently, Luckin has faced collective "mental pressure" from netizens on social platforms, so-called PUA. The cause: Luckin's recent products generally have a final price between ten and twenty-plus yuan, and the frequency of direct coupon issuance has noticeably decreased. Consumers who had long been used to spending no more than 15 yuan on Luckin found it not worth it, so some wrote "PUA-style comments" on social platforms, hoping that big data capture would make Luckin's system automatically issue coupons.
Unexpectedly, this method seemed to actually work, and a follow-the-trend effect ensued. Everyone imitated it, and as long as they sent phrases like "Why has Luckin been so expensive lately? So expensive! If it doesn't get cheaper, I'll go drink Cotti!", they had a chance to get low-price coupons.
Soon after, netizens launched a round of collective PUA against Luckin, bringing out Luckin's "fellow sibling" Cotti as a bargaining chip for "threats," which led to the opening scene.
So does this trick actually work? Em... hard to say. Although many people joined this round of "PUA," few seem to have actually received any follow-up feedback. Even if there was follow-up, the content was mostly similar to the screenshot above.
Why has Luckin recently been less active in issuing coupons? The answer lies in its shift of focus to livestreams. From morning, noon, afternoon tea to evening, as long as users have time to scroll on their phones, Luckin's livestream is broadcasting. Compared with direct coupon issuance, users may know there are coupons but won't think to consume immediately, or they may see the coupon and forget about it right away, much like replying to messages mentally.
But in livestreams it's completely different. Although the discount level is comparable to direct coupon issuance, each episode's topic, theme, and interactive segments can further attract user attention and resonance, thereby achieving sharing and dissemination. Direct coupon issuance, however, cannot make more users actively share and promote the discounts. For example, last November, Luckin's livestream used male models of different styles to interpret the product's temperament, combined with the host's serious high-end sweet talk, further showcasing the product features and charming the girls completely. That day, both the sales of product coupons and the number of livestream viewers doubled.
Users who buy coupons in the livestream often use them the same day or the next day, or at least remember to use them. Because this coupon was chosen by the user after watching the livestream, targeting a product they were interested in, or because something in the livestream or a certain sentence sparked curiosity and anticipation for a product, they can't wait to redeem and try it. Nowadays, major brands are keen on livestream marketing. On one hand, the user group attracted by a livestream is more precise, enabling rapid monetization; on the other hand, interaction in the livestream can solve problems in a timely manner, improving the timeliness and accuracy of service, and thereby increasing service satisfaction. Actually, everyone can just go to the livestream to buy cheap coupons. Why go through the trouble of writing essays to PUA Luckin, when you might not even get a coupon?
Image source: Internet
The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
