Winning customers is about more than simply selling a product—especially when it comes to online ordering. When the purchasing experience is straightforward and seamless, customers are more likely to return. This also goes for loyalty program experiences. When enrolling is simple and the rewards are easy to access, customers are more likely to take advantage.
But that’s not the only win. Business leaders who can capture customer data through loyalty integrations can continually make the experience better and better for their customers. This drives repeat purchases and catapults conversion rates.
Here’s how to win more customers and improve revenue with a seamless online ordering process.
Improve the process
The first key to winning more customers? Improve the ordering process. Most restaurant ordering experiences are clunky at best. They’re not streamlined or easy for the customer, and they aren’t designed to capture data or maximize marketing potential for the business. Consider the ease with which customers can place orders, while also assessing your current ability and success rate with capturing data.
One big thing to check is whether or not you’ve integrated a loyalty program into the ordering process. Integrating loyalty programs automatically—with the option to opt out—allows for faster, more efficient data capture while also introducing the customer to perks right from the start.
Promote loyalty, but make it easy
When making improvements to your online ordering process, it makes sense to integrate your loyalty program. This means making it simple to begin earning points or rewards within the online ordering website or app, or both.
Of course, loyalty-integrated online ordering should do more than just check a box. Rather, really think about how to make it easy for guests to digitally enroll in loyalty programs from the start. Make it simple to enroll but require nothing more than an email address. It’s nearly impossible for an incentive to influence customer behavior if the loyalty perk is only presented at the end. Illustrating benefits that inspire increased average check sizes with small discounts on upsells can only work if the customer sees them when they are browsing the menu. This makes it as easy as it gets when it comes to viewing and redeeming points or rewards directly within the online ordering and checkout flow.
Don’t make customers go searching for rewards or stall their order midway through to check their points. Make sure their checkout screen shows available rewards, whether that be free items, discounts, or non-discount perks like secret menus, events or swag. Make sure the experience is intuitive, and remove administrative roadblocks so that conversion is effortless. Make it frictionless; that is, get your guests from menu to order confirmation in as few clicks as possible. Plus, make sure the whole experience is always aesthetically pleasing. The ability to add rich imagery to menu items delivers an elevated online ordering experience.
Loyalty integration = proven digital ordering revenue
Many enterprise restaurant brands credit the growth of digital ordering revenue to their loyalty integrated online ordering experiences.
Chipotle’s loyalty integrated online ordering experience helped the brand surpass $2 billion in digital sales in 2021. In a Q1 2023 earnings report, Starbucks reported that active Starbucks Rewards membership in the US exiting Q1 totaled over 30 million members, up 4 million members or 15% over last year. Starbucks loyalty program members drove a record 56% of total sales, up 3% from last year, the brand crediting “increased customer engagement” to growing digital sales close to 50%.
When loyalty enrollment is integrated into the online ordering experience, guests are given a clear incentive to enroll and engage with the program, driving first-party digital ordering and ultimately, superior data capture.
Pump up participation through data capture
The more data you have about your customers, the better you can serve them. The better service they receive, the more their participation goes up.
Participation rate is the percentage of revenue that can be attributed to a known, reachable customer. This percentage matters. Participation rate is a leading indicator of same-store sales growth. When marketers can increase the volume and quality of data captured, they have more reachable customers and can be even more targeted in their offers and communications. More targeted—and as such, more personal—offers can improve conversion rates and drive repeat purchases.
When it comes to winning customers, the key is to make it as easy as possible. Start with the online ordering flow. Integrate loyalty program perks with automatic enrollment and make rewards obvious and targeted to entice even more participation. With these tips, you’ll soon see greater customer return from customers who are truly, happily engaged.