Restaurant Loyalty Programs That Bring Regulars Back

Why repeat guests are worth a program

Keeping a guest costs less than finding a new one. Harvard Business Review notes that acquiring a new customer is 5 to 25 times more expensive than keeping an existing one. It also cites research by Frederick Reichheld of Bain & Company finding that a 5% increase in customer retention increases profits by 25% to 95%. Those figures describe business in general, not restaurants alone, but the logic holds for any place that runs on regulars.

Rewards also give guests a reason to order from you directly. In a November 2024 NCR Voyix survey of US consumers, earning loyalty points was one of the top reasons given for ordering direct, named by 36%.

The five common types

Points or visits?

Points reward bigger orders, so they suit a menu where a family dinner and a single lunch sit side by side. Visits reward frequency, which suits a coffee shop or a lunch spot where most tickets are similar. A digital stamp card is a visit program that guests can see filling up, and that picture matters, as the research below shows.

Where tiers and clubs fit

Tiers make sense once you have a large group of frequent guests and want to give the most loyal ones more. For most independents, one simple program is enough. A text or email club can run alongside any of these, and it is often how members hear that a reward is waiting.

What research says about rewards

Two well-known studies explain why stamp cards work and how to set one up.

Guests speed up as the reward gets close

In a café study by Ran Kivetz, Oleg Urminsky and Yuhuang Zheng, published in the Journal of Marketing Research in 2006, customers on a buy ten, get one free card bought coffee more often as the card filled. Chicago Booth Review reported that the time between purchases shortened by about 20% from the first stamp to the last. After claiming the free coffee, customers slowed down, then sped up again on the next card.

A head start gets more cards finished

In the same research, customers given a 12-stamp card with two bonus stamps already filled took 12.7 days to finish it, against 15.6 days for a plain 10-stamp card. Both needed 10 purchases. A separate study by Nunes and Drèze tracked 300 car wash customers and found the same pattern: a 10-stamp card with two stamps given at signup was more likely to be completed, and completed sooner, than an 8-stamp card with none.

What that means for your program:

• Keep the first reward within reach of a regular's normal month.
• Give new members a head start, such as points or a stamp for joining.
• Expect a lull after a reward, and send a nudge when the next card starts.

Run it through your own ordering site

Where the program lives matters as much as how it works. When guests earn rewards on your own ordering site, every order the program brings back is one you pay no marketplace commission on. On the apps, delivery commission runs from 15% to 30% of the order depending on the plan, as our breakdown of DoorDash and Uber Eats fees shows.

Your own site also keeps the guest's name, email and number with you, so you can reach them again without paying for that reach. Tie the program to the phone number or email used at checkout, so guests don't need a card or a separate app to join.

Make joining easy in person too. In the National Restaurant Association's 2024 report, 60% of current loyalty members preferred a smartphone app and 18% preferred a physical card. Among people not yet enrolled, 39% preferred a card and 33% an app, and 51% of baby boomers preferred a card. Letting guests join with a phone number at the register works for both groups.

Before you offer members a price the apps don't show, check your app agreements, since some app rates depend on matching your in-store prices. A reward that lives only on your site, such as a free item on the fifth order, leaves your menu prices alone. Our guide to getting more direct orders has more ways to move regulars over, and if you're still picking a system, see our online ordering systems comparison.

Webbit gives you your own website with direct ordering for pickup and delivery, no commission on the food, and loyalty, on plans of $0, $99 and $199 a month. See what Webbit does.

The rules for marketing texts and emails in the US

Text clubs come with federal rules. The FCC's rules under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) are in 47 CFR 64.1200. What follows is a summary, not legal advice, so check with a lawyer before you launch a text program.

Texts count as calls

Under the rule, the term call includes a text message. Marketing messages sent with an autodialer to a mobile number need the person's prior express written consent.

What consent has to look like

• A written agreement, signed by the guest, that clearly authorizes your restaurant to send the messages. The rule says an electronic or digital form of signature counts.
• Consent can't be a condition of buying anything, so guests must be able to order without signing up.

Opt-outs

• Guests can revoke consent by any reasonable method.
• A reply of stop, quit, end, revoke, opt out, cancel or unsubscribe counts as a valid opt-out.
• Opt-outs must be honored within a reasonable time, no more than 10 business days.

Time of day

The rule bars telephone solicitations to residential subscribers before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m., local time where the person is. Scheduling every send inside that window is the simple way to stay clear of it.

Email

Marketing email falls under the CAN-SPAM Act. The FTC's guide says each message needs your valid physical postal address, a clear way to opt out, a subject line that reflects the content, and a clear disclosure that the message is an ad. Opt-outs must be honored within 10 business days.

Check it: read your signup box out loud. It should name your restaurant, say what you'll send and say how to stop, and checkout should still work if a guest leaves it blank.

How to tell it's working

Look at a few numbers each month:

• The share of orders placed by members.
• How often members order compared with guests who haven't joined.
• How many rewards get redeemed. Very few usually means the goal is too far away.
• Members who haven't ordered in 30 days, which is the list for your next win-back message.

Loyalty brings guests back. To help new ones find you, see our guide to getting recommended by ChatGPT and AI search.