In an extremely competitive market, building customer loyalty is essential to a restaurant's success. One of the best ways to achieve that is through a loyalty program.
In this article, learn the advantages of adopting this strategy, see some examples and check out tips for implementing it in your business. Read on!
What is a loyalty program?
A loyalty program for restaurants is a system that rewards regular customers for their preference. It can be, for example:
- A card that guarantees a discount after five purchases;
- A partnership with companies near the restaurant that gives their employees a discount;
- A points system that gives progressive discounts as customers visit the restaurant more often;
- A system of cashback or points that generate discounts on the next meal.
The important thing is that it be something consistent, that rewards the customers who come back and, on top of that, allows easy, efficient tracking.
At the same time, to get the most out of this strategy, it's essential to have ways of gathering consumption data and understanding the patterns.
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What are the advantages of a loyalty program?
Creating a customer loyalty plan is very important for any business. And restaurants are no different.
Besides providing customers with benefits like gifts and discounts, this kind of program also helps strengthen the relationship, since they feel valued and part of a special group.
But customers aren't the only ones who benefit! Below, understand why creating a loyalty program is advantageous for your business.
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It reduces customer acquisition cost
Studies show that loyalty programs will be increasingly present in restaurants. And the reason is simple: besides boosting sales, this strategy helps reduce costs, because it's much cheaper to keep existing customers than to win new ones.
That's because, even when you give a discount or another special deal, the loyalty plan is still profitable. After all, you get a bigger return thanks to the volume of visits to your establishment.
What's more, as a rule this kind of program doesn't require a big investment in setup, infrastructure or promotion. It's also quite familiar to customers, which makes it easier for them to accept.
It increases repeat sales and the average ticket
Loyal customers tend to visit the restaurant more regularly, which drives an increase in sales.
They also feel more comfortable spending more, trying new dishes and drinks. This way, your average ticket goes up.
It builds loyal customers… who bring in more customers
At the same time, satisfied, loyal customers tend to spread the word about your restaurant to their circle of friends, family and colleagues.
This “free advertising” has great potential to bring in more customers, since we tend to value the opinions of the people around us.
Think about it: how many times have you visited a restaurant or bar because someone recommended it to you? That's exactly what you'll be adding to your business.
It generates feedback and consumption data
What's more, as we mentioned earlier, a loyalty program in a restaurant brings valuable information about the establishment's routine and your audience's consumption profile.
By analyzing this data, you can understand, for example:
- What the purchase cycle is, how long a person (or a group) takes to come back to your restaurant;
- What the consumption habits are, such as the most ordered dishes and the busiest days and times;
All this information and the feedback it generates can guide your business in decision-making.
That way, you know what to invest in, what needs to change, when to run promotions and also what kind of reward is most appealing to your customers.
This makes it possible to improve the restaurant's relationship with customers and increase loyalty. In this way, a positive cycle of satisfaction is created: happy customers come back more often, generate more information, and in turn get happier and happier (and keep coming back).
The result of all this, of course, is your business achieving more and more profitability and market presence.
Examples of loyalty programs for restaurants
Despite all these benefits, some people still end up setting this kind of program aside.
That happens because questions can come up about how to implement this strategy in a restaurant and what to offer customers.
So you don't miss out on this opportunity, we've put together a few tips. Get to know the most used (and most efficient) forms of a loyalty plan.
Points Program
Points programs are quite common. The logic is simple: customers accumulate points with each purchase, which can be exchanged for prizes or discounts.. There are different models, such as:
- Automatic reward
In this model, customers accumulate points for each real spent and, when that amount reaches a predefined threshold, the points are converted into a prize.
It can be a discount, a free meal, cashback or another reward that works for your restaurant.
- Redeemable points
In this type of loyalty plan, customers also accumulate points based on how much they spend at the restaurant.
The difference is that they can redeem their points at any time, without having to wait for them to reach a certain amount.
loyalty card
The loyalty card is also quite well known and widely used in restaurants. In this type of loyalty program, customers receive a card on which their visits are recorded.
After reaching a certain number of visits, the customer earns a reward, which can be a discount, a free meal or a gift, for example.
Cashback and Giftback
Cashback is an English term that means “money back”. In this type of loyalty program, the customer gets back part of the amount they spent.
Giftback, in turn, means “gift back” and works on the same logic, except the customer receives a gift instead of money.
Discount club
Creating a discount club gives your customers a sense of exclusivity.
You can create specific clubs, partnering with companies, for example, and offer special deals to their employees.
Categorias
A different model that can be divided into tiers, with different rewards tied to different amounts spent, points earned or visits to the restaurant.
What's more, this model can also have membership tiers in which customers in each tier get access to different dishes/drinks.
Surprise rewards
This is the least common model of a loyalty program. Here there are no set criteria or milestones for customers, who are surprised with rewards and prizes out of the blue.
Tips for creating the best loyalty program
If you've already decided to implement a loyalty program at your restaurant, then check out our tips below to make it a success!
Offer relevant, appealing rewards
The rewards should be appealing to your target audience and a good fit for your restaurant's profile. That's why, to create your program, you should:
- Be clear about which goal you want to achieve (such as increasing visit frequency, strengthening relationships, attracting new customers, raising the average ticket, etc.)
- Study your customers' profile and preferences, analyzing consumption behavior and identifying their needs in order to personalize the program.
- Choose a reward that helps achieve your goals and is genuinely appealing to the customer. For example: if you want to attract new customers, you can offer a double combo to anyone who refers a friend.
Promote your loyalty program
For the program to be a success, you need to run marketing campaigns to increase customer sign-ups and engagement.
Use different communication channels – such as social media, posters put up in your establishment and WhatsApp messages – to promote the program and its benefits.
Offer standout service
Who doesn't like feeling special and valued? When a customer joins your loyalty program, offer attentive, personalized service.
That way, you secure a close, lasting relationship, and your customer will certainly come back many times and recommend your establishment to other people.
Ask your customers for feedback
From time to time, listen to your customers' opinions to improve your loyalty program.
Try to find out whether they consider it worthwhile to take part in the program and whether the model and the rewards are a good fit. Also ask about the service and request suggestions for improvement.
This way, you show that you're genuinely concerned about satisfaction and put your customers first.
Use technology to get the most out of a loyalty plan
Count on an online tool that lets you track points and makes service and prize management easier. One way to do that is to adopt EPOC GO, a QR Code digital menu with tab and payment, for complete self-service right on the customer's smartphone.
This tool is fully integrated with our restaurant platform and works online without customers needing to install any app.
With EPOC GO, you can set up a points system that customers can redeem for discounts on your products.
That way, you get all the benefits of a loyalty program without having to set up a complex strategy or hire an extra solution just for that.
To find out how to get EPOC and EPOC GO, Talk to one of our specialists.
