Restaurant loyalty programs are an effective strategy to keep your loyal customers returning to your restaurant. But if you plan to do it through an online food ordering system, you must consider a few vital factors.
Top restaurants with prestigious awards have been implementing online loyalty programs to boost sales, increase new customers, and keep up with their reputation. So, if you’re an award-winning restaurant and eyeing setting up a loyalty program through online ordering, follow the steps below:
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Get a Proper Online Ordering System
Nothing can beat a robust online food ordering system when it comes to setting up a restaurant loyalty program. Choose the right system from the top online food ordering system services like ChefOnline that can flawlessly integrate loyalty features, such as:
- Promoting personalised offers on menus or special dishes
- Tracking system of customer orders
- Tracking of customer order preferences
- Performance measuring analytics
Additionally, being an award-winning restaurant or one looking to get one, you must seek advanced loyalty features like multi-channel compatibility, tiered loyalty rewards, etc.
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Set Online Loyalty Program Goals
Your online loyalty program shouldn’t be isolated from the restaurant’s main business goals and objectives. It must be flexible enough to align with your branding and operational goals. Your loyalty program must ensure:
- A better value per order, i.e. rewarding customers who would buy more than a certain amount, such as offering a complimentary drink for orders above £40
- An increment in repeat orders by offering lucrative discounts or freebies upon a certain amount of purchase
- Promotion of rewards for customers who would buy high-margin food items
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Make It Simple for Your Customers
Your online loyalty programs must offer a simple enrollment process for your customers. It shouldn’t be filled with unending long steps, nor should there be any complicated sections. Instead, apply features like:
- One-Click enrollment that’s integrated with the new customer account opening process or an online order placement
- A smartphone-compatible program, since most foodies and online customers today prefer their mobile phones to make online food orders
- Social media linkups, so customers can use their social media accounts to sign up for your loyalty programs
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Design a Brand-Reflecting Loyal Program
Create a loyalty program that closely reflects your brand image. It should be financially feasible and customer-friendly at the same time. To make your online loyalty program reflect your award-winning establishment’s brand image, offer rewards like:
- Exclusive benefits, including virtual cooking classes, chef-signed menus, exclusive dish-tasting, etc.
- Priority treatments, such as early access to your restaurant’s special events, seasonal special dishes, or priority reservations
- High-end merchandise, such as glassware, mugs, aprons, T-shirts, pens, etc.
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Promote Your Online Loyalty Program
Once your loyalty program is set, it’s time to promote it effectively. Without a successful promotion, your well-thought-out rewards program may fail miserably. Go online and offline to let your target customers know.
- Promote your loyalty program through popular social media channels with features, benefits, and rewards.
- Feature your loyalty program on your restaurant’s website and mobile app, it catches customers’ eyes quickly.
- Invest in an email campaign to send offers to a set of regular and premium customers.
- Highlight your loyalty program on your restaurant’s menu, table cards, or catchy signs at the entrance.
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Leverage Customer Data to Refine Your Program
You can capture valuable customer data through your online ordering system, including order preferences, habits, suggestions, and complaints. Leverage this data to improve your service and refine your loyalty program if needed.
- Suggest to your customers dishes that they’ve tried before to show them you care for their preferences.
- Bring your dormant customers back by offering them customised ‘Come Back’ discounts.
- Use customer information, such as birthdays, anniversaries, etc., to offer special treats.
- Track customer retention rates and redemption rates over time for the necessary improvement of your loyalty program.
How Online Loyalty Programs Can Help You Win Restaurant Awards
Implementing a robust loyalty program through an online ordering system can even help you win restaurant awards. Award panels appreciate restaurants that enhance customer experience through effective loyalty programs. Let’s find out how it works:
- Customer Engagement: Since the loyalty program through your restaurant’s ordering system is about enhancing customer experience, it works well on the judge panel’s book. It shows a greater merit when you’re doing it online.
- An Innovative Approach: One of the key qualities award panels seek in restaurants’ operations is their creative approach, which you can showcase in your loyalty program.
- Increasing Brand Visibility: When your customers are satisfied with your loyalty programs and benefits, they advocate for your brand and spread the word among their acquaintances. Thus, your brand visibility increases along with goodwill in the eyes of top award judges.
Bottom Line
A loyalty program isn’t just about the business’s bottom line. Instead, it’s a commitment to meet your customers’ needs while enhancing their overall experience. Besides, it’s about bringing new patrons to your restaurant while serving the existing ones with top-notch service.
Additionally, restaurant award panels often assess and appreciate the engagement between the top restaurant and its customers beyond dining rooms. Hence, an exceptional loyalty program can reflect your restaurant’s ability to foster the highest customer satisfaction, a quality that wins awards.
