Why does Luckin Coffee show different prices to different users?
Luckin Coffee customers have reported seeing different prices on the mini-program for the same drink, with paid members sometimes charged more than non-members. One consumer and a colleague paid amounts that differed by 6 yuan for the same order, and the member said each purchase ran 2 to 3 yuan higher, occasionally up to 6 yuan more.
A reporter's investigation found the system pushes different coupons to different accounts, so the same cup can carry a different price for each user. A test with the Big Watermelon Coconut Cold Brew showed some ordering pages at 10.9 yuan and others at 16.8 yuan. The issue has prompted renewed scrutiny of chain coffee membership programs and their value.
For the same Luckin Coffee and the same drink, different users see prices on the mini-program that differ by several yuan—and paid members may even be charged more than regular users. Recently, some consumers told the media that they had encountered what appeared to be "big data price discrimination" when buying drinks at Luckin. A reporter's investigation found that the system pushes different coupons to different accounts, causing the same cup of coffee to have "a different price for each person." This phenomenon has struck a chord with many netizens and sparked widespread complaints, and it has also prompted people to re-examine the value of chain coffee brands' membership systems.
▲
Click to follow | Daily specialty coffee culture magazine Coffee Workshop
People who often shop on e-commerce platforms or mini-programs may have had this experience: as longtime users, they not only fail to enjoy more perks, but sometimes even end up paying a higher price than new users. This phenomenon, jokingly dubbed "big data price discrimination" by netizens, has now spread to the coffee consumption sector as well.
Recently, Yangtse Evening Post reported the experience of a Luckin user. When this consumer and a colleague placed an order for the same drink together, they accidentally discovered that the amounts they actually paid differed by 6 yuan. The two coffee-drinking companions then opened Luckin's menu page to compare, and found that the drink price lists they each saw were completely different.
What made this consumer even more unwilling to accept was that although they had paid for Luckin's "Coffee Freedom Card" and were a brand member, each time they bought a drink it was 2 to 3 yuan more expensive than their colleague who had no membership status; in some cases, the difference between the two orders could even reach 6 yuan.
To figure out what was going on, the customer asked several colleagues to compare the drink prices on their different phones' mini-programs. Taking the recently launched "Big Watermelon Coconut Cold Brew" as an example, some people's ordering page showed a minimum of 10.9 yuan, while others saw 16.8 yuan—truly "a different price for each person."
In response to user feedback, the reporter, posing as an ordinary consumer, sought verification from Luckin store employees and official customer service. The store employee's explanation was: "The system pushes different coupons to each person, so there's nothing we can do." The customer service reply was basically the same, saying that the system issues coupons from time to time, and that the coupons target different consumer groups, so differences in the discounts mini-program users receive are normal.
As for the issue that after purchasing the "Coffee Freedom Card" the price per cup was actually more expensive than for non-members, Luckin customer service explained that it might be that the non-member account happened to receive a more generous coupon.
Interestingly, the reporter randomly interviewed a customer who had just bought a drink from Luckin, and the person said they had long noticed the mini-program's "price bug." To get more affordable coffee, this customer simply registered two accounts: "The alt account can get a 9.9 yuan Coconut Latte, while the main account has to pay 13.9 yuan."
On social platforms, searching with the keyword "Luckin price discrimination" turns up hundreds of complaint posts from netizens. The situations people reported mainly centered on things like "Luckin drink unit prices start low and then rise" and "the more you buy, the more expensive the unit price becomes." Most consumers said that what they really care about is not the price level itself, but that the practice of "price discrimination" makes longtime users and members who have supported the brand for a long time feel like leeks being harvested.
These consumers admitted that brand "price discrimination" makes regulars who repurchase over the long term feel "stabbed in the back." When they discover that they have to spend more than casual customers who drop by only occasionally to buy the same drink, their disappointment is easy to imagine. As a result, after experiencing official "price discrimination," some people have stopped renewing chain brand memberships, and have even canceled their original accounts, switching instead to whichever coffee shop offers the biggest discounts.
Image source: Xiaohongshu
Disclaimer: Some images in this article are from the internet. For some content on the website, such as images, we will respect the original author's copyright and indicate the source. However, due to the large volume, a few images and texts may not have been credited in time; please forgive us. If the original author has any dispute, they may contact the website to handle it. Once verified, we will correct it immediately. Compiled and edited by "Coffee Workshop"; please indicate the source when reposting. If there is any infringement, please inform us for deletion. Thank you~!
The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
