Building a Loyal Customer Base on the Beaches of Recife
Vendor Tiago explains how Aki's repeat-customer features helped him build a fanbase that follows his cart across different beaches.
— Tiago Nascimento
Before Aki, every day was starting from zero. New faces, no history, no loyalty. A customer might love my ceviche and never find me again because I rotate between three beaches depending on the crowds.
The Follow Feature
When I discovered that customers could follow my vendor profile on Aki and get notified when I'm nearby, everything changed. I started posting my daily location each morning. Within two months, I had 180 followers who would check where I was before heading to the beach.
The Community I Built
Some of my followers started messaging each other. They created a WhatsApp group to coordinate beach days around my schedule. Now on Saturdays I often have a crowd of regulars waiting before I've even set up the cart.
A customer named Bianca organized a birthday party on the beach and requested that I be there. She pre-ordered for 25 people through Aki. It was the single best day of revenue I've ever had as a vendor.
The Lesson
People don't just want good food. They want a good vendor — someone reliable, consistent, with personality. Aki gives me a stage for that. The food is my craft. The platform is my megaphone.