Best Restaurant Loyalty Programs: 10 Examples That Actually Work

It's time to admit a nerdy secret of mine: I’m obsessed with analyzing the loyalty programs built by the top restaurant brands. National chains spend millions of dollars and countless hours building their rewards programs. So we can learn a lot by studying what works for them.

To give you an idea, Starbucks earns a whopping 57% of its revenue from its rewards program. Over half its revenue! And they aren’t the only brand seeing success.

Guests love rewards programs. 41% of consumers say loyalty programs encourage them to buy from restaurants. What’s more, loyalty programs are most popular with regulars — your most profitable customers. At Owner, our data shows loyalty programs consistently get regulars to order more and make larger orders.

So, why doesn’t every restaurant have a rewards program? I’ve found many restaurant owners are worried about how rewards and freebies could affect their margins. It’s a valid concern. But I’ve seen that when you offer the right rewards and motivate guests the right way, rewards programs are super profitable. After all, there’s a reason that 50 out of 50 of the top chains have a loyalty program.

So today, I want to share my findings. I’ll share the exact ways I’ve seen restaurant loyalty programs drive sales for independent restaurants. I’ll also show you the proven best practices top brands are using to maximize the profitability of their loyalty programs. But first, let’s take a look at the features that the most successful loyalty programs share.

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What the Best Loyalty Programs Have in Common

‍Restaurant loyalty programs are effective because they “gamify” the act of reordering. This is really just a phrase psychologists use to say, “People like completing things when they (a) have a clear goal and (b) can see their progress.”

Loyalty programs give guests both of these things. I’ve seen firsthand that there are three traits a loyalty program needs to increase a restaurant’s reorder rate and average check size — offering engaging ways to earn more points, rewarding guests with low-cost sides, and marketing to customers about their reward progress:

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1. Offer Engaging Ways to Earn More Points

Great rewards programs make it enjoyable to earn points. The best rewards programs take this a step further and give guests a variety of ways to earn points — ways that match their preferred way to order.

For example, Dunkin’ adds little challenges to its rewards program available in its mobile app. This month, 12 in-person visits (easy for coffee!) unlock a “boosted status.” This special status lets you rack up reward points extra fast.

Dunkin’ likely sees their in-person guests order more. So they’re willing to give away special rewards to encourage in-person visits.  Even if that isn’t true, it’s smart that they create exclusive deals and discounts just for “power users” in their app.

And yes, I strongly recommend points-based rewards for restaurants. If you hand customers a blanket $10 reward, they’ll use it right away and likely on a high-ticket item. With points, customers are more inclined to order more in order to reach the next milestone. And, you can select the rewards that work best with your current margins. Which brings us to…

2. Reward Guests With Low-Cost Sides

Limiting your rewards to menu items that complement main dishes and already have high margins is smart. This way, the customer still feels great. But you don’t eat into the margins for your higher-ticket items — like meat-based dishes.

You can lose money with a loyalty program if you don’t do this. It’s critical!

Here’s the thing: It's all about perceived value versus actual cost. You want customers to feel excited about the reward when in reality the item doesn't cost you very much money at all. I'm sure you know items on your menu that customers love but aren't that expensive to make.

For example, McDonald's makes more profit from fries and soft drinks than from burgers. The burgers are a good deal for an entree or main dish to draw guests in but carry food costs of 40% to 50%. Meanwhile, the fries and drinks are almost pure profit. If you own a pizzeria, the equivalent would be cheese sticks or garlic bread as a reward; desserts also fall into this category.

These are the perfect items to offer as rewards because their cost is so low. And, importantly, guests rarely want these items on their own. Cheesy bread is great, but it goes so much better when paired with pasta or pizza. So you can offer guests a reward that’s low-cost to you and might encourage them to pick up an entree.

3. Market to Customers About Their Rewards 

The last key is actually a mix of two things. First, you want total transparency around how far guests have to go to earn their next reward. This is why we add a progress bar to every single in-app rewards program we build at Owner.

You also may want a page inside your app or on your website that displays all the potential rewards. This won’t be checked all that often, but your most frequent customers will definitely check this once or twice. So make sure you clearly explain how rewards work somewhere for your regulars.

Next, you want to put some marketing behind your rewards program. Yes, you want to promote it in the first place. But you also want to remind guests of when they’ll reach their next reward, celebrate milestones with them, and tease what’s next up on the menu.

Domino’s does both of these things in a single email. After a customer crosses the 20 points threshold, Domino’s starts sending follow-up emails highlighting what they’ve earned and what they could earn next. This email features a clear progress bar and “unlock menu” for future items.

Just a dash of good marketing is how leading brands take the performance of their rewards programs to the next level.

By combining these three elements — engaging ways to earn points, low-cost rewards, and strategic marketing — you can create a loyalty program that not only boosts customer satisfaction but also drives significant increases in revenue and profitability.

Now let’s dive into the examples. 👇

10 Loyalty Program Examples From Restaurants With Die-Hard Fans 

Implementing a successful loyalty program can be a great way to create a really loyal fanbase. Although I pulled these examples from more well-known chains, you can still implement the same concept for your own restaurant: 

Now, I’ll show you some of my favorite examples of restaurant loyalty programs and what you can learn from them: 

1. Chipotle Uses Games To Engage Customers  

Program type: Points-based 

Look beyond just the burgers and fries. Chipotle's "Chipotle Rewards" loyalty program is a shining example of how a well-designed program can supercharge a restaurant's success. The program is available in the mobile app, making it more accessible to customers. 

I’m super impressed with how Chipotle gamified its loyalty program to make the experience more engaging for customers. 

For example, they hosted the “spot the imposter” challenge a few years back, where customers were offered a free order of chips and guac if they could spot the imposter ingredient on their menu. This was a great way for their customers to get more eyes on their menu. Plus, Chipotle is also able to save money by rewarding with low-cost sides (the chips and guac). 

What you can learn from Chipotle: 

• Use a digital focus: Their app was central to the program, allowing for tracking points and redemption. This seamless integration drove digital sales significantly, so I highly recommend following the same guidelines for your program. 
• Make it interactive: Chipotle does a great job of getting customers involved and engaged with their program using their “spot the imposter” game, so I’d highly recommend incorporating a game-like element within your program. It doesn’t have to be complicated; a digital spin-the-wheel of sorts that selects deals for your customers can do the trick. 

2. Starbucks Rewards Offers Multiple Ways to Earn

Program type: Points-based 

Starbucks knows how to make you feel special — they celebrate your birthday with extra star points for that perfect birthday drink, and who doesn't love a little treat on their special day? Plus, they have these "double star days" where you can rack up points twice as fast on certain drinks. 

And get this: They might even send you special offers based on what you usually order. It just makes you feel like they know you and appreciate your love for their coffee.

But the real star of the show? The Starbucks app. Signing up is so simple, and it keeps track of all your hard-earned stars — no more digging through your wallet for that lost receipt. This is a great example of how they market to customers about their rewards. Plus, you can redeem your rewards right there on the ap

What you can learn from Starbucks: 

• Reward every purchase: Design your program to reward every transaction, no matter the size. This encourages even small purchases and keeps your restaurant at the forefront of your customer's mind.
• Personalize the rewards: Go beyond a one-size-fits-all approach. Surprise and delight your customers with targeted offers based on their past orders. Do they love your veggie burger? Offer them double points on their next veggie purchase! This personalization shows you care and encourages them to explore your menu further.
• Make mobile ordering a priority: Develop a user-friendly mobile app that integrates seamlessly with your loyalty program. This allows for easy enrollment, tracking progress, and redeeming rewards — all while placing an order for pick-up or delivery. This convenience keeps your restaurant at their fingertips and encourages more digital sales.

3. Subway MVP Rewards Gives Customers Points Right Away

Program type: Tier-based

Subway launched its MVP Rewards program, letting its customers earn points for purchases. Every dollar spent results in 10 points, and Subway gives out even more points when customers order through their app. Plus, new members will get 250 points just for joining! 

They have a tiered system divided into different levels — Pro, Captain, and All-Star. Customers can move up to these different tiers based on their accumulated points. Subway really makes its program unique by including special access to certain benefits only on higher tier levels, like access to swag and free chip Fridays — which are a great low-cost side to give to customers. 

What you can learn from Subway: 

• Let customers unlock unique benefits: Consider adding special access to different deals to encourage customers to continue working up through the tiered system. 
• Give customers points right away: Give your customers “starter” points on signup to give them the taste of earning points right away.  

4. Panera’s MyPanera Communicates Via Text 

Program type: Subscription-based 

Panera’s MyPanera program is a free subscription that I could sign up for that would offer me benefits like free pastries and free delivery for 30 days upon sign-up (which is great for encouraging online orders). MyPanera members also get access to new menu items, exclusive offers, savings on menu items, as well as members-only challenges that encourage participation through gamification — a solid way to engage customers into earning more points. 

I also appreciate that customers can download the app and sign up for SMS texts so they don’t miss out on a deal or challenge. Plus, customers can pair this loyalty program with their Unlimited Sip Club membership, which offers even more perks like free drinks. 

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What you can learn from Panera: 

• Communicate via text: SMS texting is a cost-effective and easy way to get your customers' attention and keep them coming back to participate in your loyalty program. Plus, SMS texting has a 98% open rate, meaning your customers can quickly see your deals, and you can quickly get their attention. 
• Pair with other deals: You can pair your loyalty program with another service or membership that you offer to make rewards more exciting for your customers. 

5. Chick-fil-A One Incentivizes With Tiers  

Program type: Tier-based

Here's the thing: people love feeling rewarded, especially when it comes to yummy food. And Chick-fil-A makes sure that   Just like Subway, as Chick-fil-A customers earn more points, they move up the tiers and unlock perks, like free food rewards, birthday treats and the ability to give rewards to friends. Someone comes in for their usual chicken sandwich, but with Chick-fil-A One, they're getting closer to that low-cost free dessert or side of fries. 

Every dollar you spend at Chick-fil-A gets you 10 points closer to a reward. Plus, the best part? You only need 200 points to snag your first reward — that's practically a steal!

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What you can learn from Chick-fil-A: 

Just like Chick-fil-A, create a tiered loyalty program with escalating rewards based on purchase frequency or spending amount. This incentivizes and encourages repeat visits and increases order value. Let’s break down an example of tiers you can use: 

• Bronze Tier: Offer basic rewards like free appetizers or discounts on specific menu items. This tier is easy to reach, encouraging new members to participate.
• Silver Tier: Increase the reward value with free drinks, small sides, or a percentage off entire meals. This motivates members to visit more often to climb the ladder.
• Gold Tier: Unleash the premium rewards! Think free entrees, exclusive menu items, or priority reservations. This tier should feel truly special, rewarding your most loyal customers.

6. My Chili’s Rewards Personalizes Deals

Program type: Item-based 

Have you checked out the My Chili's Rewards program? When customers join, they immediately earn rewards for dining at Chili's. For instance, they get free chips and salsa or a non-alcoholic beverage just to sign up and visit a participating location at least once every 45 days.

They also offer personalized rewards, which can include free appetizers, desserts, kids' meals, and even free delivery. And on top of that, customers get a free dessert on their birthday. Chili's mobile app makes it easy and fun for customers to reorder their favorites, enhancing convenience and satisfaction.

Redeeming rewards is straightforward, too — customers just log into their account on the Chili's website or app. 

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What you can learn from Chili’s: 

• Provide unique rewards: Is your restaurant known for killer cocktails? Offer a free drink instead of chips and salsa. This tailors the program to your offerings.
• Choose the freemium model: Offer a small, universally loved item for free upon signup to incentivize initial enrollment.

7. Costa Coffee’s Costa Club Centers Sustainability 

Program type: Item-based 

Costa Coffee’s Costa Club It's a fantastic loyalty program for customer engagement that lets customers sign up and get a free drink for every 10 they order. What's really unique is that they offer extra points, called beans, when customers use a recyclable cup in-store. It's a clever way to tie the rewards program to their brand, make it exciting to purchase products, and promote sustainability.

Their app is another game-changer. It offers exclusive rewards like discounts on certain products and special treat deals. Plus, it provides personalized offers based on order history, which keeps customers coming back for more. 

What you can learn from Costa Coffee: 

• Create a currency: Craft your own unique currency system based on your offerings. It could be "slice slices" for a pizza place or "wok stars" for an Asian restaurant. Make it fun and memorable. 
• Capture the sustainable audience: Costa Coffee's reusable cup bonus is a win-win. Offer similar incentives for eco-friendly actions at your restaurant, encouraging sustainability and customer loyalty.

8. Dunkin’ Donuts Shows Customers' Rewards Progress

Program type: Points-based

Dunkin’ Donuts gets all of the basics right: it’s clear how much progress I’ve made, when I’ll get my next reward, and how much each item will be worth in reward points. Something awesome they do is add little challenges to their rewards program. 

Like this month, if you visit Dunkin’ 12 times in person (which is easy for coffee!), you unlock a “boosted status” that lets you rack up reward points extra fast.

Here’s my guess: Dunkin’ has seen that in-person stops are more valuable. So they’re willing to give away a special rewards bonus to encourage customers to visit in person. Genius. Even if that isn’t true, it’s smart to create occasional exclusive deals and discounts just for app users. 

Regulars on your app will be some of your most valuable customers by total spend, so it makes sense in most cases to reward them directly.

What you can learn from Dunkin’ Donuts:

• Reward specific behaviors: The "boosted status" earned by visiting in-store 12 times in a month is a clever way to target the in-store visit audience. If customers who order 
• Show progress: Encourage and get customers excited by getting a look at how close they are to their rewards like Dunkin’ does with their progress bar.  

9. Domino’s Rewards Encourages Online Orders

Program type: Points-based

Domino’s knows how to get customers back for their pizzas. Every time you order $5 or more, you rack up 10 points — and you can earn free Domino’s items every two orders! Like many of the points-based rewards programs, they zone in on member-only deals, opportunities to earn bonus points, and discounts during member appreciation weeks. 

Domino’s offers rewards not only for your orders but also for generously tipping your delivery driver. If that’s something you do already, you get rewarded for it.

Domino’s also offers app-only rewards to encourage people to download its app. Domino’s says 75.2% of its online orders happen through its mobile app — so the combination is so valuable to them that they spend money on ads to promote the rewards inside their app.

What you can learn from Domino’s:

• Make progress toward rewards visible: Letting customers see how close they are to claiming a deal can encourage them to continue participating and get them excited. 
• Use high-margin rewards: Be sure to choose high-margin food items that complement your signature dishes. For example, give out food that is cheap to make, like breadsticks, and pair them with a signature pizza.  
• Encourage online orders: You can encourage your customers to order online delivery more often by offering incentives like rewards for tipping the delivery driver extra. Customers feel good about showing their appreciation, drivers get some love, and you get the benefit of encouraging more online orders.   

10. Ottavio’s Pizza Makes Sign-Up Easy

Program type: Points-based

Ottavio’s Italian Restaurant uses a points-based system with its own Ottavio’s Italian Restaurant Rewards program. Customers can simply sign up and earn points with every order, redeem points for free food and receive exclusive discounts. They also incentivize customers to sign up by offering a chance to win $500! 

They’re able to do this with the help of Owner.com's online ordering and restaurant marketing platform designed to increase online sales. The tool has automation features that help with the heavy lifting as you set up your loyalty program. 

Plus, you can customize the point values for your menu items so you can make sure the rewards match your brand. We've done the testing and studied the best practices of Dominoes, Starbucks, Chipotle and Sweetgreen to bring you a rewards program that can drive maximum sales for your restaurants.

As a result of using Owner, Ottavio’s saw increased profits from $0 on $12,000 DoorDash orders to $24,000 per month. 

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What you can learn from Ottavio’s:

• Play to win: Consider implementing a “play to win” game to help incentivize customers to sign up for your loyalty program. 
• Make sign up easy: Ottavio makes this so easy for customers and only asks for phone, email and name to sign up — no usernames or passwords to keep track of. 

Benefits of a Loyalty Program

As a busy restaurant owner, you may see loyalty programs as a lower priority than, say, than other aspects of running your business. But their benefits make them incredibly impactful and worth taking off the back burner. 

And, repeat customers tend to spend more over time — often 67% more than new customers. I’ll highlight below just how valuable these programs are to a restaurant’s bottom line. 

• Increase repeat order rate: A good loyalty program can really get your customers coming back more often. When you offer enticing rewards and special promotions, it gives them a great reason to choose your restaurant over others. This means you’ll see them more frequently, bringing in steady revenue and building a loyal customer base that keeps supporting your business. 
• Increase average check size: As mentioned above, loyal customers are likely to spend more on each visit. When they know they're earning points or rewards, they're more willing to add that extra appetizer or dessert to their order. This not only makes their dining experience better but also boosts your average check size, leading to higher overall sales.
• Insights about your customers: Loyalty programs collect valuable info about customers, revealing their preferences, behaviors and spending patterns. As a restaurant owner, you can use this to tailor your sales strategy to your customers and get them to purchase more. 

For example, Metro Pizza used Owner.com’s loyalty program features, which helped them gain a 10% increase on over $10,000 in sales within the first 30 days of sales!

Now you may be asking if this kind of program can work for your restaurant. In my experience, a loyalty program is right for you if:

1. You sell items with a high purchase frequency. Food that customers purchase often works exceptionally well with loyalty programs. Nobody wants to join a rewards program for the high-end French cuisine they eat once per year. They want it for their daily coffee shop, their weekly food stop, and their regular weekend hangout. This fits with my belief that the more often the average person buys your food, the more you should focus your efforts on improving  reorder rates. As long as you have a menu-market fit, a restaurant like a burger joint or pizzeria should be seeing some names over and over.

2. You sell items good for takeout and delivery. Fortunately, this usually pairs up with the first question. But all food items that people like to stop by and pick up usually work great with rewards programs. The reason why is that customers can swing by at any time to get the food, or they can get it with little effort via online ordering. That gives them a lot of chances to try out the full menu, purchase more often, and claim rewards quickly. A reward like “fries” is appealing because a customer can stop by tomorrow at lunch to claim their reward.  

3. You don’t rely on tourist customers. You need a local crowd to get rewards programs to be profitable. So if over half of your revenue comes from one-off customers who are just stopping by, a rewards program may be more trouble than it's worth. Data shows regulars can make up to 65-80% of a typical restaurant’s profits — so for every other restaurant, the repeat orders you can earn from a loyalty program matter.

Tips To Encourage Loyalty Program Enrollment

Getting your customers to sign up may seem challenging, but there are some things you can do to make this more achievable. Here are some tips I recommended to encourage loyalty program enrollment — everything I learned firsthand from our data:

1. Use a Points-Based Program

Points-based loyalty is more likely to increase order frequency and average order size. And, they're less risky to your margins.

If you hand customers a blanket $10 reward, they’ll probably use it right away and likely on a high-ticket item. With points, customers are more inclined to order more to reach the next milestone. And, you can select the rewards that work best with your current margins. Which brings us to the next tip ...

2. Reward Guests With High-Margin Items

It’s smart to limit your rewards to menu items that complement main dishes and already have high profit margins. This way, the customer still feels great. But you don’t eat into the margins for your higher-ticket items—like meat-based dishes.

This is especially true when these high-margin rewards complement your signature dish. Let’s say one of our signature dishes is chicken parm. Then, we could look at rewards that are high-margin sides designed to be sold with the chicken parm, like garlic breadsticks.

Menu items like breadsticks and drinks are almost pure profit. So if they are a reward, they don’t cost us much, and they encourage customers to order your signature dish again. “Oh, free garlic breadsticks? I’ll guess I’ll get the chicken parm, too.” This helps us offer the right incentive without eating into your margins.

3. Build Rewards Into Your Mobile App

At Owner, we’ve built thousands of custom restaurant mobile apps. And our data proves they work:

• More customers: Restaurants with apps get 85% more return customers than restaurants without an app.
• More sales: Regulars who use a restaurant’s app order 2x more on average than non-app customers.

Loyalty programs work great with custom mobile apps. Your mobile app is already home to your most frequent customers. And, loyalty programs offer a great incentive for regulars to download the app in the first place.

Paired together, they’re a potent combination for increasing reorder rate, average check size, and overall value per customer.

4. Start People Off with Free Points

Loyalty programs on Owner start people off with a free 100 points. We've found this gets rewards members to at least the first tier of rewards more successfully.

A big reason why this works is the Endowed Progress Effect. It’s really just fancy academic language to say that people like to “complete” things after they’ve already made progress. In the original study on the Endowed Progress Effect, two groups of people were given cards that they could stamp after every car wash in order to earn a free wash:

In the first group, the card required eight stamps for a free car wash. In the second group, the card required ten stamps, but two stamps were already placed on the card.

The second group earned more stamps — and purchased more car washes! All because the second group started with a bit of progress and wanted to reach the finish line.

This is why it’s a really smart idea to offer a points-based rewards program that starts people just past square one.

5. Review Other Success Stories

You should definitely check out some success stories of other restaurants using loyalty programs. Seeing how similar businesses have benefited can give you a clear idea of what your restaurant might gain. For instance, take a look at how Owner helped Saffron incorporate a loyalty program. More customers began to order directly through their website as a result of the program, which has led to over $3 million in sales.

Boost Sales With Restaurant Loyalty Programs

Choosing the right loyalty program depends on your restaurant's unique personality, customer base and business goals. Whether you prioritize customization, engagement, storytelling or simplicity, these platforms offer diverse features to suit your needs. Elevate your restaurant's sales and customer loyalty by selecting the program that aligns perfectly with your culinary vision. 

You don’t even need to be tech-savvy to set up — that’s the beauty of third parties like Owner — try out the easy-to-use custom restaurant website builder to support your revenue goals and help your restaurant achieve success.

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