Subway Footlong Pass Shows Power of Menu-Item Subscriptions

Restaurant brands are finding that their customers are hungry, as it were, for subscription offerings, presenting them with the opportunity to level up their fans to superfans.

Take quick-service restaurant (QSR) giant Subway, which has more than 37,000 locations across 100 countries. The sandwich chain announced Tuesday (Aug. 30) that, after launching its Footlong Pass one-month subscription on Wednesday (Aug. 24), all 10,000 passes sold out within six hours.

“Subway has some of the most passionate and dedicated fans, who have been with us every step of the way on our journey to becoming a better Subway. We created the Footlong Pass to thank them for their loyalty as summer winds down and the pace of life picks back up,” Barb Millette, senior director of Loyalty and Gift Cards for Subway, said in a statement. “We look forward to unveiling even more exciting surprises and exclusive perks for our MyWay Rewards members very soon.”

The program promised footlong sandwiches for 50% off (max one per day) for all of September for a one-time payment of $50 and was available exclusively to members of the brand’s loyalty program, MyWay Rewards.

Additionally, on Monday (Aug. 29), BJ’s Restaurants and Brewhouse, which owns and operates 214 casual dining restaurants in 29 states, began selling its Pizookie Pass. The subscription program, announced Friday (Aug. 26), offers a free dessert pizza, or Pizookie, every day throughout September for a one-time $10 payment. The 200 passes sold out within an hour, according to Restaurant Business.

These two sold-out launches back-to-back suggest that consumers are not only open to subscription offerings for highly in-demand menu items — they are eager for them. As such, brands that are looking to boost visit frequency, becoming a more regular part of consumers’ weekly routines, may want to consider such item-specific subscription passes as a way to deepen their customer relationships and drive greater loyalty.

A significant share of consumers are actively interested in restaurant subscription offerings or at least open to trying them, according to data from PYMNTS’ February/March study “Digital Divide: Restaurant Subscribers And Loyalty Programs.” The study, which drew from a census-balanced survey of more than 2,000 U.S. adults conducted in December, found that 17% of consumers are “very” or “extremely” interested in being provided a restaurant subscription service, and 25% are neutral to the concept. Meanwhile, the majority of consumers (58%) reported being just slightly interested or not interested at all in participating.

Read more: Four in 10 Consumers Open to Restaurant Subscription Services

That said, subscription offerings are a great way to reach the consumers who are the most interested in engaging with restaurants’ rewards programs. The survey revealed that consumers who participate in restaurants’ subscription programs are more than twice as likely as non-subscribers to use QSR loyalty programs.