National Ice Cream Day Gets a Sprinkle of Digital Transformation This Sundae

Sunday (July 21) is National Ice Cream Day, and as the event has evolved for today’s digital consumers, brands are taking advantage of shoppers’ enthusiasm for the sweet treat to drive online engagement.

Take, for instance, Cold Stone Creamery, which is using the occasion to drive loyalty program adoption. The brand is offering $5 off to My Cold Stone Club Rewards members from July 17 to 23, an offer that can be redeemed both online and in stores. Customers’ loyalty program usage can be key to brands’ success not only because it gives them the ability to incentivize frequency but also to learn more about their shoppers’ behaviors and preferences and to adjust accordingly.

Other brands are looking to grow their share of third-party aggregator sales, taking advantage of the event to get consumers to try ordering ice cream for on-demand delivery in an effort to create the habit going forward.

Unilever-owned premium ice cream brand Talenti, for instance, is offering limited-edition free sundae kits (or “Mondae,” as the brand dubs it) exclusively for those who order on DoorDash July 20 through 22. Similarly, Carvel is offering $6 off orders of $35 or more placed by any customer on Uber Eats or placed by DashPass members on DoorDash.

Other brands, meanwhile, are simply looking to get consumers used to making purchases on their digital platforms. Baskin-Robbins, for its part, is offering $5 off orders of $20 or more placed through its app July 21 through 27, either by using a promo code or via scannable coupon for in-store redemptions.Similarly, FAT Brands’ Marble Slab Creamery is providing $5 off cakes ordered digitally.

As consumer behavior continues to shift toward online engagement and eCommerce, ice cream brands are redefining their strategies to capitalize on this summer celebration. This digital transformation marks a play to capture tech-savvy consumers who crave both convenience and novelty.

Certainly, consumers are accustomed to buying food online. The 2024 PYMNTS Intelligence report, “How the World Does Digital,” surveyed more than 67,000 consumers from 11 countries accounting for roughly 50% of the global GDP, digging into their digital behaviors in multiple facets of their day-to-day lives. The results revealed that 47% of consumers engage with a restaurant’s website or app at least once a month, and 40% go online grocery shopping at the same frequency.

Plus, technology has opened up new channels for consumers to get ice cream, from drone delivery to hail-able ice cream trucks.

“It is truly incredible when I think about how delivery services and automated technologies have evolved last few years — especially when it comes to on-demand delivery,” Russel Lilly, president of Unilever North American Ice Cream, reflected to PYMNTS in an interview in 2022. “If we could get ice cream delivered via the skies in 2022, I can only imagine what’s possible in 5, 10 or 15 years.”

For consumers, this digital innovation means more ways to enjoy their favorite frozen treats, and for brands, it’s an opportunity to scoop up new customers and reinforce their place in the hearts (and freezers) of ice cream lovers everywhere.