Joe & the Juice: Diners Go Extra Mile for Brands

As restaurant clients’ interactions with manufacturers more and more happen within the digital world, the elements that buyers contemplate when deciding between eateries are shifting. To carry onto their clients’ loyalty, restaurant manufacturers should adapt accordingly.

“[The digital shift] creates an array of recent challenges within the battle for shoppers’ consideration,” Kasper Garnell, International Model & Communications Director at juice bar and occasional store chain Joe & The Juice, which has greater than 300 shops throughout 16 nations, informed PYMNTS in an interview. “If every little thing you need is on the tip of your fingertips and geographic location is far much less of an element, then it turns into about model loyalty and, clearly, delivering nice merchandise.”

Certainly, style of the meals is the one most typical issue influencing shoppers’ selection of restaurant, in keeping with knowledge from the March/April version of PYMNTS’ Digital Divide collection, “The Digital Divide: Regional Variations in U.S. Meals Ordering Developments and Digital Adoption,” created in collaboration with Paytronix.

Learn extra: New Analysis Reveals That Regional Eating Quirks Matter in Tailoring Restaurant Presents

Plus, the examine, which drew from a February survey of greater than 2,500 U.S. adults, additionally discovered that, certain sufficient, model recognition was the second-most necessary issue, rating simply above restaurant location. Granted, the methods required to foster this familiarity are completely different within the digital sphere than the bodily.

As Garnell put it, “How [do you] keep top-of-mind with shoppers if they modify conduct and don’t stroll by a Joe & The Juice twice a day anymore?”

Recreation, Set, Match

Along with the usual points-per-dollar mannequin, the model is taking the gamified strategy to loyalty, providing factors for finishing sure “enjoyable challenges” corresponding to shopping for three inexperienced juices in every week or visiting one of many model’s shops 10 instances in as many days.

“These challenges have proven to be a way more necessary a part of the app expertise that we initially anticipated,” Garnell mentioned.

On this approach, the model’s strategy resembles that of health-focused fast-casual chain Sweetgreen.

After shutting down its earlier loyalty program, which adopted an earn-and-burn mannequin, in early 2021, Sweetgreen introduced earlier this summer season that it’s piloting a brand new Rewards and Challenges loyalty program.

This system, like Joe & The Juice’s, presents duties for patrons to finish, however moderately than awarding factors for completion, it presents rewards corresponding to a $4 credit score or a free beverage. Not like Joe & The Juice’s program, nevertheless, Sweetgreen’s doesn’t embody a points-per-dollar part.

Associated information: Sweetgreen Spins Purchases Into Private ‘Challenges’ to Drive Cellular Engagement

Because the challenges mannequin takes maintain, it stays to be seen whether or not shoppers will decide extra for packages that put them within the driver’s seat with versatile rewards factors or people who gamify the expertise with these shock challenges.

Into the Metaverse

Garnell famous that, after going “down the rabbit gap of NFTs, Metaverse and web3 typically,” the juice bar and occasional store model is “principally following from the sidelines” with the opportunity of moving into the area sooner or later.

 “[I’m] conserving my ear to the bottom and getting impressed by how different massive manufacturers are using these new instruments to have interaction with their clients,” he mentioned.

The demand for metaverse eating experiences is there, in keeping with knowledge from the July version of PYMNTS and Paytronix’s Digital Divide examine, “Digital Divide: The Transfer to the Metaverse.” The report, which drew from a Could survey of roughly 2,700 United States shoppers, practically one in 4 have already used the metaverse or reported excessive curiosity in doing so. Of those, 54% are “very or extraordinarily ” in integrating restaurant purchases into their metaverse experiences, and one other 19% are considerably .

Learn extra: Examine Reveals Eating places See Metaverse as New Loyalty Play

Enjoying for Retains

Garnell advises that, as much more restaurant manufacturers construct and launch their loyalty packages, it’s key to construct direct relationships with shoppers moderately than going by way of a third-party middleman.

“If I may give one piece of recommendation to anybody on the market who’s within the strategy of constructing their very own digital loyalty program, be sure you personal 100% of the info that you simply seize,” he mentioned.

Certainly, shoppers are more and more coming to count on the type of customized digital experiences which can be solely potential with data-informed segmentation and optimization. In truth, the 2022 version of PYMNTS’ Restaurant Readiness Index, additionally created in collaboration with Paytronix, revealed that personalization options inside loyalty apps are bettering, exhibiting robust progress between September 2021 and April 2022.

See extra: Extra Than Half of Eating places Rely on Digital Gross sales, Regardless of Uptick in On-Premises Orders

“I’ve seen too many associates on this area constructing their app and POS methods on white label options, solely to search out that they couldn’t get full entry to the info in a while,” Garnell mentioned. “With the ability to analyze the info and optimize the loyalty expertise primarily based on that knowledge is every little thing.”