Coffee lovers around the Lower Mainland can rejoice today thanks to the launch of Siply, a new coffee shop curation app designed to save users time and money, all while supporting small businesses.
The app gives independent cafes the ability to provide the same level of convenience previously only offered by big brand coffee chains.
Siply offers a ‘robust repertoire’ of 50+ cafes located in Vancouver, North Vancouver, Richmond, Coquitlam, New West and Surrey, providing coffee and tea aficionados with special offers, an interactive map, detailed menus, users reviews, and the ability to purchase through the app.
Users save an average of $1 per drink when they order and pay via Siply. The coffee shops on the app include recognizable names, such as Nemesis, Pallet, Prado, Rocanini, Timbertrain and Kafka’s, with more cafes being added monthly.
“As a self-professed coffee snob, I got sick of paying loads of money for crap coffee,” said Tom Fitzgerald, the founder of Siply. “I started spending countless hours in coffee shops, which led to conversations with cafe owners about how to promote the local coffee scene. That’s how Vancouver Coffee Snob, Canadas largest coffee blog, was born, to help everyone drink better coffee. The natural next step was to find a solution to drive more business their way, and that’s where Siply comes in.”
While it started with a mission to save time and money, the project took on more meaning for Fitzgerald this year. Like many industries, the coffee industry has experienced devastating impacts as a result of the pandemic. Fitzgerald hopes that Siply will give consumers the tools they need to support small businesses, while still saving money.
“We’ve really benefited from our partnership with Siply,” says Alyssa Rugg, operations manager at Pallet Coffee Roasters. “We recently collaborated with Siply on a campaign that generated two times more foot traffic that we normally see during that time period. The increase in visibility and opportunity to engage with new customers is critical during such a challenging year.”
Since Siply’s inception, over 3,500 users have gone through beta testing, sharing critical feedback to help create a better user experience.
“My favourite part about using Siply is that it provides a curated list of specialty coffee shops by distance. I tend to be very indecisive about which coffee shop to visit, often because I want to visit them all,” says Jessica Lui, another Siply user and local coffee blogger. “Siply simplifies and solves this for me, while helping me save some money on specialty beverages. It’s also very helpful to have all the store’s information and menu listed out in one place. I love using this app!”
The Siply app is available for download for both iPhone and Android phones.