Restaurants have found one way to incentivize return customers is through loyalty programs, which grant returning guests rewards such as free access to the restaurant’s Wi-Fi or free or discounted entrees.
Today, about 4 in 10 consumers use loyalty programs when purchasing food for dine-in, delivery and pickup, according to “The Digital Divide,” a PYMNTS and Paytronix collaboration based on a survey of 2,207 U.S. adults who regularly purchase food from restaurants.
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In fact, 44% of table-service restaurant customers use loyalty programs, as do 39% of quick-service restaurant (QSR) customers.
Loyalty programs are especially likely to be used by high-tech consumers — the 10% of survey respondents who own 11.8 devices on average. Among this group, 75% of table-service restaurant customers use loyalty programs, as do 60% of QSR customers.
The share of consumers who use loyalty programs is smaller but still significant among two other personas identified by PYMNTS: the mainstream consumers who own 6.5 devices, and the low-tech consumers who own 2.8 devices.
The most common way in which consumers interact with restaurant loyalty programs is with mobile apps. The survey found that 56% of table-service restaurant customers use a mobile app, as do 64% of QSR customers.
The next most common ways customers of both types of restaurants interact with their loyalty programs are by providing a phone number, mobile check-in and text message.
Restaurant customers use a variety of both digital and non-digital methods to engage with restaurants’ loyalty programs.
Among the eight methods identified in the survey — five of which are digital and three non-digital — even the least popular ones were used by 14% of QSR customers and 18% of table-service restaurant customers.
It is therefore critical that restaurants of both types offer a variety of both digital and non-digital channels for their customers to access loyalty programs.
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