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| Free Hospitality Publications |
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Restaurant Industry News
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Tuesday October 24th, 2006 |
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The Rise of Loyalty
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Following retail's lead in connecting and communicating with customers. |
When Nick's Pizza and Pub decided to implement a loyalty program to replace their paper gift certificates, they wanted to give something back to their faithful customers. With the success of the program, Nick's customers are now giving the restaurant something in return: a larger customer base and increased sales.
Nick's two Chicago-based family-owned eateries have enrolled approximately 15,000 customers into its loyalty program since September 2004 and continue to add more patrons every week. Once they become a member by providing some basic information about themselves, diners qualify for cash discounts by building points based on the dollar amount of purchases. In the future, Nick's plans to expand the program to include free items, complimentary dinners for four, or banquets for as many as 50 people, free trips, and retail merchandise.
'It's been a great success,' says Matt Calabrese, controller for Nick's. 'Our lunch business grew from 3 percent to 8 percent. The new card is more secure and it's a way to give something back to our repeat customers.'
New technology has made loyalty programs like Nick's easier to implement, track, and promote. Long gone are the old punch card programs, which could be cumbersome, time consuming, and prone to fraud. Paper gift certificates are fading from the landscape, too.
External Source - For the complete article click here
Source - QSR Magazine
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