6 Gamification Techniques to Incorporate into a Restaurant Loyalty Program

Gamification techniques for restaurants entail finding effective ways to reward customers for spending their money at a particular restaurant. To do good business at your restaurant, you can reduce your costs and increase your income by creating a loyalty rewards program for customers.

Customer retention holds great significance, especially in this cutthroat competition in the market. Having an effective loyalty program in place will help you increase customer visits to your restaurant by about 35%. To acquire new customers for your restaurant, you will have to spend less money on advertising costs. The customers who already know your restaurant and love dining there will spend more with every visit.

With the help of gamification techniques, restaurants can enable their loyal customers to receive better rewards the more they participate in restaurant rewards programs. To be precise, gamification techniques offer a fun and exciting way to build customer loyalty and create customer engagement for your restaurant.

First of all, let’s understand what gamification is:

It includes specific techniques that involve turning routine activities, like visiting a restaurant, into a game. Similar to other games, participants earn rewards for completing different activities. You can offer play-based incentives, like points, badges, level-ups, and VIP status. Gamification techniques apply to these incentives and reward customers for their participation. The main idea behind gamification is that it turns an ordinary activity, such as having a meal at a restaurant, into something engaging and fun. It creates a win-win situation for both customers and restaurant owners.

Let us discuss specific gamification techniques for your restaurant loyalty program:

1. Sign-Up Rewards for Customers

An effective restaurant loyalty program will help entice customers in the first place and will motivate them to sign up for your loyalty program. Instantly reward your customers for registering with your loyalty rewards program. It will help you in two ways:

a. It will immediately catch customers’ attention and help them instantly notice the rewards they’ll receive for their participation in a top restaurant loyalty program, and help you build a healthy relationship with your customers.

b. The temptation of receiving more significant rewards in the future keeps your customers hooked on your restaurant. About 75% of customers are more likely to purchase after receiving an initial incentive.

2. Keep Customers Informed About Their Progress

Create some friendly competition to inspire action from your customers. If you are offering rewards for a certain number of purchases made, or for particular points, this technique will undoubtedly work. You can use the loyalty rewards program app, email marketing campaigns, or chatbot software to stay connected with your guests. You can keep your customers up-to-date on their progress, and show them how close they are to unlocking their next reward.

3. Create Different Levels of Rewards

By creating different levels of rewards, you can create an atmosphere filled with fun, excitement, and curiosity. You can create tiered loyalty programs to motivate customers to visit your restaurant so they can earn and redeem points. One important thing that needs to be remembered is to make sure your reward levels are attainable.

4. Offer Experience-Based Rewards

Apart from providing discounts to customers, it is imperative to offer a great restaurant experience to them as an added incentive for participating in your customer rewards program. It is essential to make your loyalty program creative, challenging, engaging, and experimental, which pays off in the best way. You can use an integrated marketing platform to reward customers with personalized perks and other enticing offers if you wish.

5. Restaurant Rewards Programs Should Include Challenges

This gamification technique keeps your rewards program enticing and exciting for your customers. Try seasonal challenges, like encouraging guests to visit your restaurant during happy hours or placing takeout orders on Mondays to earn extra points. Another good thing is to run contests on social media for members who have enrolled in your loyalty rewards program, or you can choose to introduce a new surprise level for them to unlock once they have reached a certain status.

Adding some challenging elements to your loyalty rewards program will help with customer engagement and keep the interests of both old and new customers. Therefore, give your customers what they want and make your restaurant loyalty program interesting.

6. Include Social Media in Your Loyalty Rewards Program

Show your loyal customers some love by posting photos or displaying customer reviews for your restaurant online. You can also thank your customers on social media for visiting your restaurant and redeeming rewards. If possible, you should take some time out to make your restaurant stand out from others, which will also leave a positive impression on your customers. Ask your customers about sharing their experience at your restaurant, as well as their feedback.