Can Bambu require franchisees to purchase specific processing equipment and software to implement the customer loyalty rewards program?
Bambu Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
from us or any other specifically designated source.
Customer Loyalty Rewards Program
Except as prohibited or limited by law, you must, at your sole cost, fully participate in our customer loyalty rewards program, and all promotional campaigns, prize contests, social media programs, special offers, discount programs, and other programs, whether international, national, regional, or local in nature, which we prescribe. In addition, at your sole cost, you must honor any coupons, customer loyalty rewards program points or credits, discounts, or other authorized promotional offers that we prescribe for the franchise system, unless we agree otherwise. You must follow the guidelines set forth in the FRC Materials with respect to your obligations and responsibilities under these programs. We reserve the right to require you to purchase and utilize processing equipment and software designated by us to implement any of these programs.
Insurance
You must procure, maintain and provide evidence of certain types and amounts of insurance coverage described in the FRC Materials. These types of insurance include comprehensive general liability, products
liability, unemployment and worker's compensation, personal property, business interruption, owned and non-owned auto liability and builder's risk coverage and an umbrella policy. We recommend that you also carry employee dishonesty insurance. If you fail to purchase the required insurance, we may demand that you cease operations or obtain insurance for you and you must reimburse us for the cost of the insurance. All insurance policies must name us as an additional insured and give us at least 30 days prior written notice of termination, amendment or cancellation. You also must provide us with certificates of insurance evidencing your insurance coverage before the opening of your shoppe, upon any changes in the coverage that we require, and at least 30 days' prior to the expiration of any existing policies. You must furnish us with copies of all required insurance policies or other evidence of insurance coverage and payment of premiums as we request from time to time. We reserve the right to require you to change the types and amounts of insurance you are required to maintain upon 60 days' prior written notice to you.
Purchasing Arrangements
We have purchasing arrangements to provide our franchisees with proprietary and designated food and drink items. You must participate in these arrangements; however, you should not at any time rely on the continued availability of any particular pricing arrangement, nor the availability of any particular product or brand in deciding whether to purchase the franchise.
Source: Item 8 — Restrictions on Sources of Products and Services (FDD pages 22–26)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Bambu's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, franchisees are generally required to participate in the customer loyalty rewards program. Bambu retains the right to mandate that franchisees purchase and utilize specific processing equipment and software that Bambu designates to implement these programs.
Bambu franchisees are required to purchase a point-of-sale (POS) system, including the hardware, that meets Bambu's specifications to service the loyalty rewards program. The currently required POS system is the Square bundled system, which includes supporting hardware and software to facilitate the customer loyalty rewards program. This system also has built-in merchant software for processing credit card payments and customer tipping for both in-store and online orders.
Franchisees are responsible for paying monthly fees for the maintenance and updates to the POS system. While Bambu currently does not derive any revenue from the franchisee's purchase of the POS system, Bambu reserves the right to derive revenue from the purchase and license of the POS system or any proprietary software in the future if Bambu develops its own system or software. Bambu may also require franchisees to use a new or different POS system in the future, which would necessitate converting to the new system.