pizza-mobile-ecommerceIt’s no secret that consumers love paper coupons and plastic punch cards. Marketers may love them even more as they are a proven way to get customers buying on a repeated basis. But more and more consumers prefer mobile loyalty programs and marketers are responding by stepping up their efforts to engage mobile users and keep them as loyal customers.

Loyalty programs and the reward points that often come with them are the second leading reason consumer engage with brands on mobile. The first being mobile coupons and offers. This tells marketers a lot about what consumers are looking for on mobile and how to engage with them.

One brand in particular that is succeeding with this platform is California Pizza Kitchen. In fact, 80% of their customer engagement with their loyalty program is through mobile. The pizza chain launched their CPK Pizza Dough Rewards program in 2013 as part of their already branded app.

The app offers a variety of deals to customers in a variety of contexts from proximity to behavior in restaurant. The reward program offers members $5 for every $100 spent. One of the keys to the restaurant chain’s success with their mobile rewards program is the integration of it into their larger marketing strategy. By doing this they are able to reach a more targeted audience and send customized offers.

According to Kristen House, mobile product manager at Paytronix:

 The brand leverages its loyalty program data to send timely and contextually relevant mobile messages that are triggered in real time based on the guests behavior – whether it’s at the close of a check, or traveling within the vicinity of a California Pizza Kitchen location.

The success of the California Pizza Kitchen mobile loyalty program to not only increase engagement but translate into more frequent restaurant visits leading to an overall increase in sales is proof that consumers are happy to discard their plastic punch cards in favor of pulling out their smartphone. As a lesson, marketers should be more eager to use this strategy as part of their larger marketing plan.

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