If you’re operating a food and beverage venue, are you giving your customers enough exposure and information to become loyal to your brand? Have you ever considered it as a marketing option? In fact, there’s a good chance you’ve got a card in your purse or wallet that relates to some form of brand points scheme or rewards program. And, chances are, you use it. Restaurants are increasingly turning to loyalty programs to retain and expand their customer base. But if you remain unconvinced, here are a few reasons a loyalty scheme could increase your business’s sales, big time.

 

A loyalty program can be a differentiator

Sure, your competitors are running loyalty schemes of some form too, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get creative and be unique with your own.

This is what makes restaurant loyalty schemes so exciting. You can have fun with them and pour the personality of your brand into them. The result? A differentiator, and a reason people should pick you over the competition.

Restaurant loyalty schemes enable you to connect directly with customers

One of the biggest challenges in marketing is connecting directly with potential and existing customers.

Email remains one of the best ways to do this, and you can certainly reach a tightly defined audience on social media, but loyalty programs result in your brand being ever-present in someone’s day-to-day life.

Whether it’s a points card or rewards app, the presence of your loyalty scheme on someone’s person or as a notification on their phone is a constant reminder that you exist, and there’s no better way to send targeted, personalised messages that will have an impact.

 

Loyalty programs will make your diners happier – and more likely to return

Customers are always looking for value, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the cheapest option on the block.

If you can offer a loyalty scheme that delivers real, tangible value, it’ll make your customers happier. And, guess what – happy customers tend to spend more and return more often.

Think about one of the simplest and widest used forms of loyalty – the coffee points card. Buy six cups, and you’ll get your seventh free, and when that time comes it’ll put a smile on your face. Oh, and you’ll probably be wedded to the process enough to do so again and again.

 

Loyalty programs offer great ROI

One of the best things about modern loyalty programs is that they’re not particularly expensive to implement. The simplest – i.e. punch cards – simply require some spend on printing, while the more advanced may already be hiding away in your POS system.

The best advice if you’re heading into a loyalty strategy for the first time is to start small. That way, you can measure the return on investment and increase your effort and the depth of the program if you need to.

We’re confident you’ll want to do just that, too, because restaurant loyalty schemes deliver significant returns. The increase in repeat visits alone will make anything you spend on printing seem like a drop in the ocean.

Wrapping up

We hope you’re now sufficiently excited about loyalty to at least spend some time researching the options. This bears repeating: it doesn’t have to cost a fortune. Thanks to modern POS systems and pre-built loyalty platforms, you can start building a far better connection with you customers on a relatively low budget.

Hospitality people, we are here to help you. 

It has been undoubtedly one of the toughest years for the great people in our industry. But now we can see a brighter future ahead for all of us – one that is paired with great technology, better customer experiences, and a more profitable hospitality industry.  

We will work with you to grow your business. 

 H&L POS has been at the forefront of technology in the hospitality and food and beverage industry for over 30 years. We provide Point of Sale with extensive Back of House and a fully integrated suite of hospitality solutions. 

As hospitality people at heart, H&L understands the critical requirements for each food and beverage operation. We have staff in every state of Australia providing direction and advice as you grow and as technology changes. 

 As always, remember that we are here to assist your business in any way possible. Call us at 1800 778 340, or email [email protected] to discuss your venue’s needs.