When running a restaurant, serving up delicious food is one thing; but spreading the word out and keeping those customers coming back for more is just as important.
However, when everyone is sticking to their phones, those old-school restaurant punch cards just don’t cut it anymore. Everything is going digital! And your loyalty program needs to keep up with this trend.
Big brands are doing so well with their loyalty program apps for restaurants! It’s all about making it easy for customers to earn rewards, track their progress, and stay connected right from their smartphones.
Today, I’m sharing 9 inspiring examples of restaurant loyalty program apps that are absolutely nailing it. I hope you’ll find some inspiration for your rewarding loyalty program. Let’s dive in!
Understanding Loyalty Programs in the Restaurant Industry
Let’s begin with some key statistics to help you understand the impact of loyalty programs in the restaurant industry and the trends in loyalty adoption among restaurants:
Adoption Rates
- 57% of restaurants have implemented reward and loyalty programs.
- 96% of loyalty program customers say they provide great value, and 52% already participate in loyalty programs at restaurants and coffee shops.
Customer Participation
- 47% of diners participate in at least one restaurant loyalty program.
- 70% of consumers are more likely to join a loyalty program if it has a mobile app.
- 69% of consumers even say loyalty programs influence their choice of retailer or restaurant.
Impact on Revenue
- Loyalty program members visit restaurants 20% more frequently and spend 20% more than non-members.
- A compelling loyalty program can increase customer spending by 35%.
- 73% of customers would recommend a restaurant with a good loyalty program to friends and family.
- Loyalty program members drive 12-18% more annual incremental revenue growth than non-members.
These stats prove one thing: if you’re not using a loyalty program, you’re leaving money on the table. Understanding this, more and more restaurants, especially big chains, are creating their own apps with built-in loyalty programs, making it easy and fun for customers to interact with the restaurant and get personalized rewards.
Loyalty program apps for restaurants commonly have these key features:
- User-Friendly Interface: Customers can easily navigate, earn points, and redeem rewards.
- Mobile Ordering and Payment: Loyalty program apps allow customers to order and pay for their meals directly through the app.
- Personalized Offers: Restaurants use customer data to send targeted offers and recommendations, like suggesting a customer’s favorite dish or a new menu item they might like.
- Gamification: Earning rewards is more exciting with challenges, badges, and progress bars.
- Exclusive Perks: Loyalty members get special benefits, like early access to new menu items or events.
- Omnichannel: Customers can earn and redeem rewards whether they order on the website, on their phones, or in-store.
- Engaging Notifications: Customers get personalized offers and updates through app notifications or emails.
9 Outstanding Restaurant Apps That Enhance Brand’s Loyalty Programs
Now that you know about the importance of adopting a loyalty program for your restaurant, let’s look at 9 awesome loyalty program apps from famous food chains; simply because they’re the best!
Starbucks Rewards
Let’s start with a loyalty program app that’s practically a household name: Starbucks Rewards. The Starbucks app is a central hub for everything Starbucks.
You can order ahead, pay for your drinks, track your rewards, and even discover new menu items.
User Interface and Overall Design
The Starbucks Rewards app has a clean, user-friendly interface with intuitive navigation. Its design incorporates the brand’s signature green color and high-quality images of its products.
The layout is well-organized, making it easy for users to find what they need, whether they’re browsing the menu, customizing their order, or tracking their rewards progress.
Integration with the Loyalty Program
The app seamlessly integrates with the Starbucks Rewards program, allowing customers to:
- Earn stars for every purchase.
- Track their rewards progress with a progress bar on top of the app.
- Redeem rewards for free beverages, food, or even merchandise.
- Participate in challenges and bonus star opportunities to earn rewards faster.
- Receive personalized offers and discounts based on their preferences.
Strengths and Lessons Learned
- Convenience is king: The app makes it incredibly easy to order, pay, and track rewards, enhancing the customer experience and reducing friction.
- Personalization drives engagement: Tailored recommendations and offers make customers feel valued and understood, encouraging them to return.
- Gamification adds excitement: The star-based system and challenges make earning rewards more fun and motivating. Who doesn’t love a little friendly competition?
- Seamless integration is crucial: The loyalty program is the same on the app and in-store, creating a cohesive and rewarding customer journey.
Chipotle Rewards
Chipotle, the popular fast-casual Mexican restaurant, engages customers through its Chipotle Rewards program. The app incentivizes frequent diners by awarding points for every dollar spent, which can be redeemed for free food, Chipotle-branded goods, or charitable donations. This robust program fosters brand loyalty while aligning with Chipotle’s community and quality food mission.
User Interface and Overall Design
The app’s design is simple and user-friendly. It features a minimalist layout with clear sections. For example, you can choose among 3 categories Food, Goods, and Giving to redeem your points.
The design uses appealing images of rewards, like burritos and chips, to show customers what they can earn. You can easily see your points and how close you are to getting a reward.
Integration with the Loyalty Program
The app seamlessly connects with the loyalty program by:
- Displaying the current points balance prominently.
- Offering a categorized rewards menu where points can be redeemed for food (like Chips & Guacamole), merchandise, or even charitable donations.
- Highlighting redemption options, like “Hold to Redeem” buttons for ease of use, and visually confirming unlocked rewards.
- Limited-time rewards, such as free items with specific purchases, encourage consistent engagement.
Actionable Insights for Restaurants
Other restaurants can take inspiration from Chipotle’s app by:
- Diversifying rewards to include food, branded goods, and community-focused options.
- Ensuring the redemption process is quick and intuitive with visual confirmations.
- Using high-quality visuals to make rewards appealing and easy to identify.
- Promoting limited-time offers to drive repeat visits and consistent engagement.
Dunkin’ Donuts Rewards
Dunkin’, a leading coffee and baked goods chain, has definitely brewed up a winning loyalty program with the mobile app Dunkin’ Rewards.
The program motivates frequent visits with tiered rewards and special offers like “Boosted Status” for regular customers.
User Interface and Overall Design
The Dunkin’ Rewards app features a vibrant, cheerful interface that reflects the brand’s fun and energetic image. Boldly using orange, pink, and white, the app is visually appealing and easy to navigate.
Users can effortlessly track their reward points, progress toward rewards, and visits needed to maintain Boosted Status.
Integration with the Loyalty Program
This is how the app helps boost Dunkin’ Donut loyalty program:
- Prominently displays the user’s points, reward progress, and visit milestones. Incentivizes users with “Boosted Status” (achieved after 12 monthly visits), which increases points earned per dollar.
- Highlights available rewards, mobile-exclusive offers, and bonus point days like Mobile Mondays
- Suggest personalized offers and birthday rewards.
Strengths and Lessons Learned
The Dunkin’ Rewards app stands out for its:
- Boosted Status: Encouraging loyalty through tiered rewards that benefit frequent visitors.
- Clear Tracking: Easy-to-read visuals showing points earned and goals to unlock rewards.
- Bonus Offers: Promotions like bonus point days and featured rewards excite and motivate customers.
MyMcDonald’s® Rewards
McDonald’s might not be the first brand that comes to mind when you think of sophisticated loyalty programs, but trust me, they’ve stepped up their game with its MyMcDonald’s Rewards app.
It allows you to order ahead, pay for your meals, earn rewards, and even access exclusive deals and offers.
User Interface and Overall Design
The app features a sleek, modern design with McDonald’s iconic yellow, red, and white branding. Its user interface is intuitive, featuring a prominent progress bar for accumulating points, visually appealing reward images, and a clean navigation menu for rewards, deals, and bonuses.
The app is designed for speed and convenience, making it perfect for on-the-go users. Whether someone is ordering drive-thru, dining in, or using curbside pickup, the experience feels smooth and seamless.
Integration with the Loyalty Program
McDonald’s members will see their points balance and progress toward rewards right when they log in to this app.
Customers earn points for every purchase, regardless of where they order from. These points can be exchanged for free items like coffee, burgers, or fries, and applied instantly when they check out.
Strengths and Lessons Learned
From my perspective, the MyMcDonald’s Rewards app excels in several key areas:
- Simplicity: The app makes it incredibly easy to earn and redeem rewards, even for those unfamiliar with loyalty programs.
- Personalization: Customers receive tailored offers and reminders, creating a sense of value and exclusivity.
- Speed: The app is optimized for quick service, matching the fast-food experience McDonald’s is known for.
Taco Bell Rewards
Taco Bell knows how to make its loyalty program fun and engaging with its Taco Bell Rewards program via its mobile app. Customers can conveniently place orders while earning points for every dollar spent.
User Interface and Overall Design
The app uses Taco Bell’s signature purple and white colors in a bold and exciting way. The design is clean and simple, making it easy to find important sections like rewards, offers, and ways to customize your order.
You can also see your progress and rewards easily, which makes the app fun to use.
Integration with the Loyalty Program
Taco Bell Rewards makes loyalty feel effortless:
- Customers earn points when ordering through the app, whether for pickup, delivery, or dine-in.
- Once enough points are collected, users can climb up the loyalty ladder, unlock more redemption options, and choose to redeem theỉ points for free items, like tacos, burritos, or exclusive menu items.
- Members gain access to personalized offers, special deals, and limited-time promotions, like Tuesday Drop, and want to visit the app regularly.
Strengths and Lessons Learned
Here’s what I think you can “copy” from the Taco Bell Reward app:
- Tiered Rewards: Users are motivated to move through levels for increasingly valuable rewards.
- Offer Exclusivity: Provide app-only deals or access to limited items to give customers a reason to join the program.
Buffalo Wild Wings – Blazin’ Rewards
Buffalo Wild Wings, famous for its wings, beer, and sports-focused dining experience, has created a strong customer loyalty program called Blazin’ Rewards. The program is seamlessly managed through its mobile app, encouraging customers to engage with the brand both in-store and online.
User Interface and Overall Design
The Blazin’ Rewards app is clean, modern, and easy to navigate. Its bold visuals and straightforward layout reflect the brand’s sporty, energetic vibe. The home screen highlights essential features like tracking points, checking rewards, and placing orders.
Key actions—earning points, redeeming rewards, and browsing the menu—are simple to complete with just a few taps. The app also features high-quality visuals of mouth-watering food, encouraging users to order immediately.
Integration with the Loyalty Program
The Blazin’ Rewards program makes earning and redeeming points effortless:
- Users can scan receipts to earn points for every dollar spent on food, drinks, and orders placed through the app or in-store.
- Points can be redeemed for free food items (like free chips, salsa, or sides), discounts, or exclusive perks.
The app also highlights customized orders with options to pick your favorite sauces or dry rubs. - Customers can “check-in” at Buffalo Wild Wings restaurants through the app to earn extra points, creating an incentive for in-store visits.
Strengths and Lessons Learned
The Blazin’ Rewards app excels at:
- Customization: Allowing users to personalize their wing orders creates a more interactive experience.
- Seamless In-Store and Online Integration: The app works equally well for online orders and in-store visits, making it versatile for customers.
- Engaging Check-In Feature: The “check-in” option drives more foot traffic to restaurants while rewarding customer loyalty.
MyPanera Reward
Panera Bread, known for its fresh and wholesome menu, runs one of the most successful loyalty programs in the restaurant industry: MyPanera Rewards.
User Interface and Overall Design
The app design is clean, modern, and minimalistic, reflecting Panera’s natural and fresh brand identity with its signature green and white color palette.
The Rewards & Offers section is easily accessible, and a progress tracker visually shows how many visits are left until the next reward, creating a user-friendly and intuitive experience.
Integration with the Loyalty Program
These are some outstanding strategies from the MyPanera Rewards app:
- Customers earn rewards based on their purchasing habits. For example, frequent coffee drinkers may receive free coffee, while sandwich lovers get discounts.
- The app displays rewards and their expiration dates in a dedicated dashboard, ensuring customers know what they’ve earned and when to redeem it.
- Rewards can be easily applied during checkout for online orders or scanned at in-store kiosks.
- Panera’s Unlimited Sip Club (a subscription for free beverages) is managed entirely through the app, boosting customer retention.
- The app provides exclusive deals, birthday rewards, and personalized offers to keep customers engaged.
Strengths and Lessons Learned
Here are some practical insights from the MyPanera loyalty program app:
- Visit-Based Rewards: A progress bar visually motivates users to complete visits for rewards.
- Personalized Offers: App-only discounts and rewards cater to individual preferences.
- Subscription Model: The Unlimited Sip Club adds recurring value, increasing customer retention and frequent visits.
Domino’s Rewards
One of the largest pizza brands globally, Domino’s, has mastered customer loyalty through its Domino’s Rewards program, which is managed seamlessly through Domino’s mobile app. With its focus on convenience and simplicity, the app ensures that every order feels rewarding.
User Interface and Overall Design
The Domino’s Rewards app uses the brand’s iconic red, white, and blue color scheme, creating a familiar and inviting experience.
The layout is straightforward, with clear sections for My Rewards and My Deals, a progress tracker for points, and visually appealing product images of redeemable rewards.
Integration with the Loyalty Program
Domino’s Rewards work smoothly on the app, encouraging customers to order more often:
- Automatically tracking points on orders. Users can see their accumulated points and available rewards on a visual progress bar.
- It simplifies redemption by clearly listing rewards that can be claimed with accumulated points, such as free dips, drinks, or appetizers.
- The program works seamlessly for in-app, online, or in-store orders, ensuring customers earn points no matter how they order.
Strengths and Lessons Learned
The Domino’s Rewards app excels at:
- Clarity and Simplicity: Easy-to-follow points tracking and redemption steps encourage frequent participation.
- Multiple Reward Options: Offering a variety of rewards ensures customers feel their loyalty is valued.
- Exclusive Deals: Member-only discounts and limited-time promotions boost customer retention.
- Consistency: Whether ordering online, in-app, or in-store, customers always earn points, ensuring a seamless experience.
Chick-fil-A One
Known for its excellent customer service, Chick-fil-A uses the Chick-fil-A One mobile app to power its loyalty program. The app streamlines ordering, payments, and rewards, making it easy for customers to earn and redeem points seamlessly.
User Interface and Overall Design
The Chick-fil-A One app is clean, polished, and easy to navigate. Its design aligns perfectly with Chick-fil-A’s brand—simple, friendly, and professional.
The app is organized into clear sections, such as:
- Rewards Dashboard: Displays points, available rewards, and progress toward the next tier.
- Order Tab: Allows users to customize orders, schedule pickups, or place delivery requests effortlessly.
- Home Screen: Highlights personalized offers, updates, and promotional content.
Integration with the Loyalty Program
The Chick-fil-A One app runs flawlessly to provide value and keep customers engaged:
- Tiered Rewards System: Customers earn points for every dollar spent, progressing through four tiers: Member, Silver, Red, and Signature. Higher tiers unlock more points per dollar and exclusive benefits.
- Earning Points: Users earn points for purchases made via the app, online, or in-store when scanning their Chick-fil-A One QR code. Additionally, users can scan receipts to claim missed points and confirm community status via ID.me for extra rewards.
- Redeeming Rewards: Points can be redeemed for free menu items directly within the app during checkout.
- Personalized Offers: Members receive custom rewards and exclusive perks based on their purchase history..
Strengths and Effectiveness
The app’s effectiveness stems from its:
- Tiered System: The tiered rewards structure incentivizes higher spending and frequent visits as customers strive for better perks.
- Ease of Use: Simple navigation and clear presentation of rewards.
- Personalization: Birthday rewards and exclusive tiered perks enhance user engagement.
- Accessibility: Quick redemption options and missed point recovery ensure no effort is wasted.
- Gamified Progression: Progress bars motivate users to achieve higher membership levels.
What These Programs Teach Us About Building & Running A Loyalty Program For Restaurants
Keep It Simple and Clear
A straightforward structure, like earning points per dollar spent or offering free items after a certain number of visits, works best. Customers need to understand how to earn rewards and what they get in return without confusion.
-> Actionable Tip: Avoid complex rules. Use a points-based or tiered system and clearly display it in your app or store.
Incentivize with Personalization
Programs like Chick-fil-A One and MyPanera Rewards thrive because they tailor offers and rewards based on customer preferences. Personalization builds emotional connections and makes customers feel valued.
-> Actionable Tip: Use customer purchase data to send personalized offers, such as discounts on favorite items or birthday rewards.
Make Rewards Easily Accessible
Customers appreciate flexible and seamless redemption. Brands like Domino’s and McDonald’s allow users to redeem rewards both online and in-store, while some apps feature receipt scanning for missed points. Accessibility builds trust and ensures no effort goes unrewarded.
-> Actionable Tip: Provide multiple redemption options, including online orders, in-store purchases, and order-ahead features.
Highlight Member-Exclusive Benefits
Programs that offer exclusive discounts, member-only deals, and early access create a sense of VIP treatment. Buffalo Wild Wings and Taco Bell successfully use limited-time offers and “drops” to encourage ongoing participation.
-> Actionable Tip: Create urgency and exclusivity through limited-time rewards, exclusive deals, and special promotions for members.
Build A Successful Loyalty Program For Your Restaurant
The loyalty program apps for restaurants we’ve explored prove that rewarding customers keeps them coming back and increases their spending. Their success comes from focusing on simplicity, convenience, and personalization to create a seamless customer experience.
If you want to implement a loyalty program just like these brands but are not sure where to start, Joy will help you design and run a professional loyalty program, automate rewards, and keep customers engaged both online and in-store. It’s simple, effective, and tailored to meet the needs of growing businesses like yours!
