Five of Fitzrovia’s numerous coffee shops have joined a scheme where you can pay for your dose of caffeine with an app on a smartphone, and even sign up for unlimited coffee for a fixed monthly price.
The creators of DripApp are aligning themselves with the growing market of small coffee retailers and say their app is a way these independents can compete with the big chains like Costa and Starbucks. In an announcement this week they said they are targeting shops in Fitzrovia and Shoreditch which they say are “the trendiest coffee hubs in London at the moment”.
French entrepreneurs Jeremy Cortial and Ruben Grigri who are based in London created the app and say “we buy the drinks from the coffee shops at a discounted price and share this discount with the consumer”.
Customers can use the app to prepay for their coffee or take out a monthly unlimited subscription. “For less than £3 daily, you’ll get unlimited coffee in all of the app’s partner stores. Just tap your order, hand your phone across the counter for the barista to punch in a 4-digit code.”
Cortial and Grigri say the independent coffee shops offer a more interesting coffee experience related to consumers’ interests, something the larger chains cannot do. They cite Velorution in Great Portland Street as a good example because it is “half coffee shop, half bicycle shop” .
Fitzrovia News was unable to test the app as it is only available on iPhone (we only have Android in our shabby office). If any of our readers have used the app, please give us your views.
DripApp is available for iPhone with an Android version coming soon. Participating shops in Fitzrovia are: Black Sheep Coffee, 63 Charlotte Street; Moba Bakery, 53 Goodge Street; Velorution, 75-77 Great Portland Street; Maple and Fitz, 36a Berners Street; and Love Die Late, 114 Great Portland Street.