If you are thinking about getting diners back at your restaurant, creative loyalty program ideas can be just the thing to help you increase your table turn rate.
Loyalty programs can be automated with the help of tools like Glue so that those hungry customers keep coming back to your joint.
In this article, we have listed some of the best loyalty program ideas for restaurants
1. Offer digital loyalty cards
Make a list of customers who have already ordered food more than once from your restaurant. Offer these repeat customers digital loyalty cards which can be used for special promotions, rewards, and gifts. Explain to the customers what is a loyalty card and how its benefits work. You can set what benefits customers receive if they purchase a particular item(s) on your menu, a certain number of times.
You can use customer loyalty card system to engage in loyalty marketing with your diners devoid of physical contact. Digital loyalty cards are automated and your customers receive notifications whenever they are eligible to receive rewards. Moreover, there is no question of your customers losing physical loyalty cards, as information in the digital cards is stored securely on cloud servers.
2. Offer digital coupons that can be redeemed for discounts
Worried about competition eating into your profits during the pandemic? Get your regular customers to write online reviews and recommendations on social media. Social proof helps you gain new customers, and deal with competition. Make a polite request to your regulars to write feedback on your website or on a social platform. Be notified on your smartphone when they write reviews or make recommendations, and surprise them with digital coupons to show your gratitude.
3. Offer subscriptions at a discount
Getting customers to order regularly is a great way to build your revenue. Many people order breakfast, lunch, and dinner on a regular basis. Get them to subscribe to regular online food orders at a discounted rate. Customers can make an up-front payment for their food orders or set up recurring payments. They can even check-in when they physically dine at your restaurant, right on their mobile devices.
4. Invite regular diners to join your member’s club
Some diners are so special that they actually add to your restaurant’s ambiance. Other customers walk-in or order from your restaurant because they are influenced by these special regulars! Enroll these loyal diners in a members-only club to give away special discounts and offers. You can even offer membership tiers based on how much they eat or drink. It might help you to know that branded members’ clubs give regular diners a sense of belonging and exclusivity.
5. Offer incentives for referring friends and families
People trust their friends’ recommendations more than they would believe in your expensive restaurant ad campaigns. Get your most loyal customers to refer their friends and families to eat at your cafe or restaurant, and reward them for making referrals. A referral incentive ensures that your loyal diners get rewarded each time they make a successful referral. When a referred customer eats at your joint and enters the referral code on the app before paying, your referring customers earn points automatically.
6. Offer real-time rewards
Many diners refuse to be part of loyalty programs when they are requested to, due to a number of reasons. Yet, instant gratification is a powerful motivator and can be used to persuade them to sign up. Offer rewards in real-time so that customers are tempted to sign up instantly. For example, explain to diners that by joining your loyalty program, they will earn an extra drink or dessert at the end of their meal. You can even use insights generated by automated loyalty managers to offer their favorite delicacy or dessert.
Loyalty programs are great for bringing diners back
Although we are in the middle of a pandemic, creatively planned loyalty programs can bring reluctant customers back. Glue’s automated loyalty manager is a great way to implement a customized digital loyalty program quickly and effectively. They help you nurture and sustain your regular customers and get them to bring more hungry diners to your place. Most importantly, a loyalty tool like Glue can be set up and automated, so that you receive insightful plans, updates and reports right to your smartphone.
Talk to us today to discover how your restaurant too can benefit from a loyalty manager.
