The Paytronix C-Store Summer Series is a five-part blog that explores successful loyalty campaigns that convenience stores can use to drive user engagement, win back customers, successfully segment customer groups, and ultimately drive incremental revenue. Look for the C-Store Summer Series throughout the month of August.  

A successful loyalty program has been proven to be the ultimate tool for the wise marketer. Loyalty programs drive customer engagement and spend, build and strengthen the relationships between the brand and the consumer, and provide invaluable insight into customers’ behaviors and preferences.   

A truly effective loyalty program must be cultivated and monitored, with regular tweaks and upgrades. This includes choosing the right campaign for the desired outcome, whether that’s winning back a lapsed customer or engaging a new loyalty member.  

Engaging new members is critical as it not only shows the member the value in the program so they’ll continue to use it, but it’s also a primary indicator of whether that customer will continue to visit.  

Getting a customer to register for the program at all is already a strong indicator that they’ll return. But Paytronix data shows that customers who visit three times after registering have a nearly 90% likelihood to return. It’s around this point that the likelihood of a next visit plateaus, so that third visit is the goal to strive for.   […]

The final weeks of June and early half of July ushered in a new era of the pandemic, as southern and western states that had largely evaded the worst of Covid-19 became new virus hotspots. The rising number of confirmed cases and hospitalizations forced many states to order restaurants shutter their dining rooms – again – and meant fewer drivers on the road as other businesses wound down operations. 

Despite the setback, Paytronix data shows that the restaurant industry’s recovery has slowed, but not reversed. In late March and into early April, restaurant sales dropped to 30% of pre-COVID levels.  Starting in the middle of April we saw sales recover at a rate of 0.4% – 0.5% per day, reaching 70% of pre-COVID levels by the July 4th weekend.   […]

Monday marked National French Fry Day, one of the more popular of the arbitrary food holidays celebrated annually. (It was followed by National Grand Marnier Day on Tuesday and National Tapioca Pudding Day Wednesday – who knew?)

While most of these foodie festivals pass by without much fanfare, Americans’ particular love for the deep-fried potato drives many restaurants to mark the occasion, typically by offering free fries on the holiday.

While such a reward is likely to drive visits, restaurants should be prepared to see a drop in overall check size. When a medium-sized fast casual chain used free fries as a reward during a We Miss You campaign, they saw a 3.55% lift in visits, but a 1.34% drop in spend. […]

Due to Covid-19 restrictions, this July 4th holiday was anticipated to be, in relative terms, one of the weakest Independence Day travel periods in the last 50 years. But while overall travel was down, the percentage of Americans traveling by car was projected to be higher than usual, a prediction that appears to be supported by fuel sales data.   

Comparing 2020 and 2019 data is more difficult than usual; this year the 4th fell on Saturday but the holiday was observed on Friday. Last year, it fell and was observed on Thursday.  The charts below show the gas sales (measured in gallons) over the holiday period and in the weeks running up to the holiday.   

On each chart the solid lines are the sales on that day, the dotted lines are the same day the previous week as a comparison.  We can see some key similarities and differences in the data between the 2 years:  

In both years we see a run up in sales above the previous week, beginning a few days before the holiday (excluding the Tuesday in 2019) as people fuel up their cars in advance of planned trips.  This indicates that holiday celebrations still involved travel in 2020.  […]