What Can Restaurants Learn from Netflix?

Subscription programs have emerged as a key component in the restaurant marketing toolkit. Like the loyalty programs on which they’re based, well-designed subscription programs keep guests returning and help drive incremental value. They also reach important demographic groups to produce long-term benefits.

The latest collaborative study between Paytronix and PYMNTS, The Digital Divide: Restaurant Subscribers and Loyalty Programs, finds that subscription programs help restaurants lock in their most valuable and loyal customers.

Survey results show that 75% of non-subscribed consumers are at least “slightly interested” in joining a restaurant subscription program. And there’s a significant chance that new subscribers will become highly valuable to a brand.

Today’s restaurant subscribers are among the industry’s most engaged, and loyal customers. They visit more often, spend more, and stick around for longer.

It’s therefore no surprise that a strong correlation exists, as 80% of subscribers also use loyalty programs.

Subscription programs tap into a particularly valuable consumer demographic: the bridge millennial. College-educated, tech-savvy, and wealthy, this group takes full advantage of a brand’s loyalty offerings and spends more than the average consumer.

Subscribers have indicated that their primary needs are convenience, simplicity, and value. For most brands, implementing a subscription program is a logical step because it involves many of the elements that are already at the core of the guest experience.