Why Reimagining Restaurant Loyalty Matters
Loyalty has always been essential to restaurants, both in the traditional sense (“The barista always remembers my name and my favorite order!”) and in the more structured loyalty-program sense. But it may be hotter than ever as restaurants navigate an increasingly competitive environment, the rising costs of labor and goods and services, and pressures to demonstrate consistent bottom-line growth.
That’s why HT recently devoted an episode of our monthly webinar series, The Point, to Reimagining Loyalty Programs for Restaurants (available streaming on demand), in which I enjoyed a lively conversation with David Hooper, Marketing Manager at CC’s Coffee House, about CC’s recent implementation of a new mobile app and loyalty program in collaboration with Paytronix.
The webinar inspired me to think more deeply about the current strategic goals, financial pressures, and guest expectations that are helping to reshape loyalty programs.
Why Loyalty Matters
Of course, there’s a very simple explanation for why the traditional sense of loyalty matters — it costs a lot more to acquire a new customer than it does to keep a loyal customer.
But as we define loyalty today, we know that everything from marketing to ordering and payment transactions to rewards happens digitally, making loyalty programs absolutely essential.
In fact, when we surveyed restaurant operators for HT’s 2024 Restaurant Technology Study: Accelerating Intelligence, they identified their top strategic goals for technology investment as follows:
- 59% Improve digital customer engagement
- 56% Support revenue-generating opportunities
- 44% Improve business analytics
An effective loyalty program — including a seamless, intuitive signup process and effective communication of promotions, offers, policies, and benefits — can deliver on all three of those strategic goals.
What Do Guests Want From a Loyalty Program?
When HT surveyed restaurant and hotel customers for our 2023 Customer Engagement Technology Stydy: Rewriting the Rules, they identified the benefits they would like to receive from a loyalty program as follows:
- 78% Discounts
- 62% Complimentary products or services
- 36% Exclusive experiences
- 25% Personalized communications and offers
We’re not surprised to see discounts and “free stuff” at the top of the list, but we feel it’s noteworthy that exclusive experiences and personalized communications and offers appeal to a significant segment of the customer base.
Because exclusive experiences and personalized communications are the future of restaurant loyalty.
Increasingly, restaurant brands are exploring how experience feeds loyalty — from everyday operational excellence to easy, intuitive deployment of rewards points to experimental extravaganzas such as Taco Bell’s “early retirement community,” The Cantinas. And in a recent brand collaboration, operational efficiency and on-site experience converge with Marriott Bonvoy and Starbucks partnering to allow customers to link the two brands’ loyalty accounts.
As for personalization, in our recent episode of The Point webinar series, we shared some of the highlights of CC’s Coffee House’s new mobile app launch, focusing on upgrades to its My CC’s Rewards program.
CC’s, with more than 40 locations across Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas, wanted to offer guests a more personalized mobile app and loyalty experience.
In the upgraded app, guests can now seamlessly order, make payments, and access the loyalty program and have access to up-to-date information, including announcements and limited-time offers. CC’s marketing team can leverage the app to engage directly with guests via personalized messages and promotions. Geofencing tools can be used to alert guests about store-specific promotions and messages. (Reminder: The full webinar episode, Reimagining Loyalty Programs for Restaurants, is available streaming on demand.)
Talk to Us!
We’d love to hear your brand’s loyalty story. Recent wins? Persistent challenges? Questions? Follow me on LinkedIn, and my digital door is always open at [email protected].