How we've taken Costa Coffee’s loyalty program to the next level

The challenge: Migrating the backend without breaking customer experience

Costa Coffee wanted to take their loyalty programme to the next level. Their goal was to improve the digital experience for their customers by making it easier to access rewards, get more relevant offers, and use features like iOS Wallet without friction.

Behind that vision was a technical shift. They needed a more modern setup to handle loyalty-related API calls, manage customer authentication, track rewards, and process vouchers, all in a way that felt smooth and reliable from the user’s perspective.

However, their existing loyalty API setup was outdated and didn’t match the experience that today’s users expect. There were issues with data accuracy – voucher statuses and bean counts didn’t always line up – and the system lacked flexibility when it came to things like sharing rewards or activating micro-benefits.

On top of that, QA presented a challenge of its own. The client used a ready-made automation solution from a third-party vendor. It wasn’t built for their app specifically, but it was meant to be a starting point. We worked with their team on turning it into something that actually worked for them – something that could support their QA process without slowing down delivery or needing a full rebuild.

The solution: Strengthening the backbone of customer experience

As Costa Coffee’s digital product development partner, we were trusted with ownership, decision-making and brought in early to help shape the technical direction. From planning sessions in London to day-to-day collaboration, we worked hand in hand with their team on numerous innovative solutions.

Migrating to the new loyalty backend

We kicked off by shifting all loyalty-related APIs to support Costa’s new Digital Transformation framework. This meant updating and thoroughly testing core functionalities, customer authentication, loyalty positions, transaction histories, and voucher sharing, to ensure a seamless transition with zero disruption to the live app.

Introducing MicroRewards

Once the migration was solid, we moved on to building a brand-new feature: MicroRewards. This innovation lets customers swap two beans for one micro-reward, such as syrup upgrades (oat, coconut, or soya milk). To top it off, we designed and implemented a sleek, SwiftUI-powered screen that makes managing these rewards smooth and intuitive. That way, we helped Costa deliver even more personalised user experience.

A complete automation setup

On the QA side, we delivered a complete automation setup tailored to their product. From defining a clear automation roadmap to integrating with their CI pipeline and BrowserStack, we helped the team move faster and catch issues earlier. Real-time reporting and automated alerts brought structure and visibility to the entire testing process, turning QA into a proactive part of delivery, not a bottleneck.

The results: A solid foundation for what comes next

The impact was felt where it mattered most – faster development cycles, a more stable app experience, and a loyalty platform ready to support future growth. The business gained flexibility to roll out new features without risking downtime or user frustration.

With stronger foundations in place, the in-house team now moves with more confidence. Testing is smoother, releases are more predictable, and customers get a better, more consistent experience. Our partnership helped reduce delivery risks while increasing speed, quality, and long-term maintainability.

The tech stack

UIKit

SwiftUI

RxSwift

MVVM (Model-View-ViewModel) Architecture

Coordinator Pattern

JS

Webdriver.io

appium

Cucumber

Allure reporting

Bitrise

Browserstack