Some restaurants have had customer loyalty programs for years; others are newer to the game. In any event, restaurants globally are more involved with customer loyalty programs than ever before. However, although customer enrollment is growing; many people don’t actively use their restaurant loyalty programs!!!

As eMarketer reports:

“One initiative that’s experiencing lots of innovation is the restaurant loyalty program, where a combination of changing consumer perceptions and new restaurant-focused IT efforts are helping more restaurant marketers warm to the idea. But such programs get mixed reviews from diners. One sign of interest in restaurant-focused loyalty programs is the changing perception of such initiatives among diners worldwide.”

“According to a November 2016 survey by Oracle, a growing proportion of internet users are signing up for restaurant loyalty memberships. More than 65% of respondents in the US said they were members of a food service loyalty program. And worldwide, restaurant owners and marketers also appear to also be investing more money in loyalty-driven technology systems. According to a June 2016 Hospitality Technology survey, loyalty programs were the most popular customer experience tool mentioned by restaurant executives.”

“But loyalty programs have their challenges. The biggest one is just because consumers have a membership to a program, doesn’t mean they will actually use it.”