Building Customer Loyalty via Smartphone Apps

Restaurants love to incessantly nudge their customers to be loyal by rewarding them each time they come back. After all, the best customer is the one you already have.

But today’s loyalty programs are moving beyond the tried-and-true punch card to the more in-demand smartphone app. Some 52 percent of Millennials say they want to use their mobile devices to take advantage of loyalty programs offered by restaurants, bars, and coffee shops, according to a new study by Oracle Hospitality.

“[Loyalty] will require a redefinition of service—one that offers Millennials tremendous choice, speed, and personalization based on their individual preferences,” says Ray Carlin, vice president of solution and strategy management at Oracle Hospitality.

Indeed, another expert says apps will soon become the only way customers interact with a loyalty program. “Apps will become ubiquitous and give us features we haven’t even begun to think about,” says Marc Berman, principal consultant at Kobie Marketing, a loyalty and marketing agency.