6 Food Brands With The Strongest Loyalty Programs

Prasad Vemulapalli | March 03, 2021

 

Research done by Bain & Company showed that the increase in customer retention by 5% leads to an increase in profit by 25% to 95%. As most sales usually come from existing clients, and existing clients are more likely to try new products than new customers, it is important to know how to retain existing clients. Large and small food brands actively use loyalty programs to retain their clients. In this list, we present six brands with the strongest loyalty programs. 


Starbucks

As of January 2020, Starbucks has about 18.9 million members using its loyalty program. Of these members, 71% visit Starbucks at least once a week. Starbucks attributes 40% of its sales to the reward program. To use the reward program, customers have to download the Starbucks app and begin collecting bonus points for each purchase they make. Once they have enough points, they may redeem the points for a free beverage or food.

 

 

What makes Starbucks’ loyalty program valuable for customers?

  • Customers can earn points towards free drinks and food items. 
  • The program provides free birthday gifts and the ability to do free refills on brewed coffee
  • Members can send gift cards to their friends and family members
  • Users get special offers based on their past purchase history 
  • The program makes it easy to claim small rewards, satisfying the least patient members


Papa John’s

Papa John’s loyalty program has about 16 million users as of April 2020. The CEO of the company, Rob Lynch, said that the company’s loyalty program is one of the reasons why Papa John’s experienced growth at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020. In 2018, the company simplified its loyalty program, and now it is very straightforward: for every $1 spent, customers get 1 point. Once customers collect 75 points, they can exchange the points for a $10 certificate to use toward any menu items.

 

 

What makes Papa John’s loyalty program valuable for customers?

  • Customers can collect points and redeem them for free drinks and food items. 
  • It is intuitive - customers know that $1 equals 1 point, and 75 points equal to $10
  • The program allows redeeming points against other offers and promotions
  • Papa Rewards members get surprise bonus points from time to time


Panera Bread

Panera Bread’s loyalty program has about 40 million users, making it one of the largest loyalty programs in the industry. Last year, the company launched a new subscription-based plan. By paying a monthly fee of $8.99, members can enjoy unlimited premium coffee. The only limitation is that coffee can be purchased once up to every two hours. When the program was launched in February 2020, Panera Bread added 100,000 new members. As of August 2020, more than 800,000 people signed up with the new subscription-based plan.

 

 

What makes Panera Bread’s subscription-based plan valuable for customers?

  • It is simple and gives customers the chance to choose the size and type of beverage
  • MyPanera members get exclusive offers and rewards
  • Users can send gifts to their friends and family members
  • New users get a free pastry as a bonus for signing up


Chick-fil-A

As of August 2018, the Chick-fil-A app, which includes a loyalty program, had 13 million active users. The idea behind the Chick-fil-A loyalty program is it gives its members between 10 and 12 points for each dollar spent, depending on the loyalty tier. There are three tiers in total: Member, Silver Member, Red Member. Once users collect enough points, they can exchange the points for various menu items. For example, a medium waffle potato fries is equal to 200 points while a chicken sandwich costs 500 points.

 

 

What makes Chick-fil-A’s subscription-based plan valuable for customers?

  • Customers can collect points towards free drinks and food items. 
  • The availability of various loyalty tiers allow more loyal customers to get larger rewards
  • Members receive surprise bonuses from time to time
  • The program gives free birthday rewards 
  • Members can send gifts to their friends and family members
  • The program provides exclusive content and prizes for the most loyal members


Domino’s

Domino’s has one of the largest loyalty bases, with at least 40 million people enrolled in the loyalty program and more than 85 million people in the database. Domino’s loyalty program works the following way: for every purchase above $10, members earn 10 points. Once members collect 60 points, they can exchange points for a free medium two-topping pizza.

 

 

What makes Domino’s loyalty program valuable for customers?

  • Customers can collect points towards free drinks and food items. 
  • It is simple: members get a free pizza after placing six ten-dollars orders 
  • Members get exclusive promotions and offers
  • Members can place repeat orders by opening the Domino’s and waiting for ten seconds


7-Eleven

7-Eleven has more than 25 million users enrolled in its loyalty program. The program received multiple awards, such as the Convenience Store News’ Technology Leader of the Year Award and the Loyalty360 Technology Award. The program gives 10 points for every dollar the member spends. Once members collect more than 500 points, they can exchange points for listed food items and beverages. For example, a cup of small coffee costs 500 points while a whole pizza costs 4000 points.

 

 

What makes 7-Eleven’s loyalty program valuable for customers?

  • Members can earn points towards free drinks and snacks. 
  • Users can play games in the app to earn bonuses and entries into sweepstakes 
  • The program participants get exclusive deals


The examples above demonstrate the benefits and value that customers get by using loyalty programs. Strong loyalty programs tend to be simple, exclusive, and enjoyable to use. While customers use loyalty programs to save and get bonuses, restaurants use loyalty programs to generate more revenues. Loyal customers tend to spend more with a single brand and more willing to try new products. Loyalty programs help restaurants learn their customers’ price sensitivity, tastes, and other demographic information that customers are willing to share. Using information that restaurants get from loyalty program participants, restaurants can improve ordering processes, add or remove certain menu items, optimize prices, and understand what marketing materials to use to appeal to their customers. 

Our goal at OrderEm is to help restaurant owners grow their local business in the same fashion as big restaurant chains, and we have the resources to do so. OrderEm helps restaurants to build and implement loyalty programs that help retain customers and make them interact with your brand more often. Check out our OrderEm Loyalty Program page to learn more.