A restaurant loyalty program is one of the most effective ways of retaining old customers, which is essential for a restaurant’s survival in this highly competitive industry. This is because modern customers always sift through the places where they can get their desired food items at lower prices. A smartly executed restaurant loyalty program always motivates customers to choose your restaurant over your competitors.
You might be surprised to know that retaining old customers is more challenging than gaining new ones. That is why it is said that customer loyalty is the key to a restaurant’s success. Besides offering good food, you need to give them enough reasons to keep coming back to you for more. Adopting a restaurant loyalty program not only entices your customers but also increases your brand value and profitability.
In this article, we have discussed the restaurant loyalty program in detail to help you understand the concept and its endless benefits.
What is a restaurant loyalty program?
A restaurant loyalty program refers to a restaurant marketing strategy where customers earn reward points for each of their orders that they can redeem on their next visit.
Loyalty program example: Let us consider the classic example of a loyalty program. When you visit shops or restaurants, at the time of billing they usually ask for your phone number or any number that can be used to identify you. Once the billing process is over, you instantly receive a message or an email mentioning that you have earned points for your purchase with them. Using these points, you can avail discounts on their food items. That is how the loyalty program works.
Benefits of restaurant loyalty programs
If you are newly introduced to the concept of loyalty programs for restaurants, you might wonder why you should sell your food items for lower prices. Well, this is one of the most popular and result-driven restaurant marketing tactics that is used to create a community of loyal customers.
The concept simply means you encourage your customers to spend more on your restaurant by rewarding them.
Now let us explore the benefits of loyalty programs for restaurants.
1. Increases customer retention rate
The points that customers get for their orders encourage them to come back to you again to utilize them. It works in a loop. The more they order, the more points they get. As a result, your customer retention rate increases to a great extent. They eventually become your loyal and regular customers.
2. Attracts new customers
When you have a community of loyal customers, they are more likely to recommend your restaurant to their known circle. This ultimately helps you gain new customers through word of mouth. These new customers will take advantage of your loyalty program and eventually become loyal customers. This is how the chain will go on.
3. Accelerates sales growth
Retaining existing customers and attracting new ones increases overall customer flow in the restaurant, increasing your sales growth. As you are rewarding your customers for placing orders, they will always be interested in ordering their preferred food items from you instead of other restaurants. These purchases will gradually grow sales.
4. Boosts customer engagement
Besides your food, Loyalty programs give your customers a reason to visit your restaurant repeatedly, which creates a bond between you and your customer. They feel more comfortable sharing their reviews of your food and suggesting ways to improve. This greatly increases customer engagement.
5. Increases customer satisfaction
Through a restaurant loyalty program, your customers feel valued. This is a way of appreciating them for being regular at your restaurant. After all, who does not like rewards? When your customers get items from your food menu at a lower price for the points they have earned through regular purchasing, it simply develops a sense of satisfaction among them.
Types of restaurant loyalty programs
1. Point-based rewards
Under the point-based reward system, customers are rewarded in terms of points for each penny they spend in your restaurant. This can be later used as discounts, gift coupons or free meals. This is an easy-to-use loyalty program that encourages people to visit again.
2. Item-based rewards
This is a comparatively old type of loyalty program where you reward your customers for purchasing a specific food item from your restaurant for a certain number of times and you give the next one for free. For example, buy five burgers and get the sixth one for free.
3. Subscription rewards
In the subscription-based loyalty program for restaurants, customers need to pay a recurring fee to unlock exclusive offers, benefits, and more. This type of reward ensures a consistent flow of income for restaurant owners and long-term customer commitment. For instance you can reward your customers with a special meal at your restaurant for completing a yearly subscription period at a certain price
4. Promotional rewards
Promotional rewards are a part of restaurant marketing activities in which customer rewards come with an expiry date to encourage them to purchase within a specific time frame. This type of reward does not follow any particular pattern. For example, you can reward your customers for dining at your restaurant on your restaurant’s birthday.
5. Personalized rewards
Personalized rewards are usually based on individual customer preferences. It is generally a customer data driven approach where the rewarding strategy is made considering customer tastes and preferences.
Now that you know about the importance and types of restaurant loyalty, let us guide you on how you add this marketing strategy to your website.
How to add a restaurant loyalty program to your website?
A loyalty program is one of the most effective marketing strategies that enables restaurants to create loyal and repeat customers.
You can effortlessly add loyalty programs to your restaurant website with FoodMato. It covers a loyalty program in its restaurant marketing services. Discover FoodMato now!
Wrapping up
Adding a modernized approach is essential for every restaurant business to flourish. Loyalty programs is certainly one of them. It is a marketing tactic that helps you gain long-term loyal customers and make them happy in every visit and order.
We hope that the article helped you understand the concept of loyalty programs and how they are beneficial to your business.
