Q&A with Karissa Threadgill, Loyaltees Guest Engagement Leader of the Year

This year’s Paytronix Loyaltees winner for Guest Engagement Leader of the Year is Original ChopShop's, As the Director of Marketing at Original Shopshop, Karissa owns the curation and development of all marketing initiatives related to their loyalty program and mobile app. ChopShop is a beloved fast casual concept, with locations across Arizona, Georgia and Texas.

Karissa joins us, following her award win to discuss her win, program with Paytronix, and plan for the future.

When did you start working at ChopShop and what is your title?

I joined Original ChopShop in September 2018 as a Catering & Brand Coordinator. Since then, I’ve had the opportunity to grow alongside the brand, taking on several roles that have expanded my experience and perspective. 

How long have you been using Paytronix?

I’ve personally been using Paytronix for 3+ years now. ChopShop began using Paytronix in 2017.

As an Area Catering Sales Manager, I oversaw catering sales for our Dallas market before transitioning into a Sales Strategist role, where I led brand-wide catering strategy and local shop marketing initiatives. I then moved into a Brand Manager position, contributing to marketing campaigns, new Shop openings, creative development and team leadership.

Now, I’m the Director of Marketing, where I have the opportunity to help shape the brand’s growth, drive strategic marketing initiatives and support our incredible team as we continue to bring Feel Good Food to more communities!

How many stores does your brand have? How many company owned vs. franchisee?

We currently have 29 Shops, all company owned. We are slated to open 2 more locations this year in Richardson, TX and Peoria, AZ.

Describe your guest engagement platform - what do you use with us?

Our guest engagement platform is centered around a fully integrated loyalty program, mobile app and digital ordering experience between Paytronix, Olo and Bite. Guests can order through our app and website, as well as in-Shop through kiosks or at the register, while earning and redeeming loyalty rewards and receiving personalized offers and promotions.

Digital engagement is a big part of our business, with roughly 31% of sales coming from Direct Digital (online + app) and nearly 60% of those orders coming through the app, making it an important driver of guest engagement, loyalty and repeat visits.

As the winner of the Guest Engagement Leader award, you are being recognizing for driven outstanding guest connection for your brand utilizing Paytronix and its capabilities. Describe how you leverage the Paytronix platform in your program?

We leverage Paytronix as a key tool in how we build and nurture guest relationships, using the platform to create personalized, interactive experiences that encourage loyalty, frequency and deeper engagement with our brand.

One example is our Feel Good Foodie ‘Menu Passport’ App Challenge, where we used Paytronix’s capabilities to turn menu discovery into an interactive guest journey. Guests earned virtual stamps, bonus ‘CHOPS’ and rewards as they purchased across 8 major menu categories, giving them a reason to return and explore more of the menu. We also leveraged dynamic imagery within the app’s homepage carousel to reflect each guest’s individual progress, showing categories as stamped or unstamped and creating a more personalized experience.

Rather than simply rewarding transactions, we used Paytronix to influence guest behavior, encouraging frequency, menu exploration and continued engagement. This approach allows us to make our loyalty program feel less transactional and more like an ongoing relationship with the guest!

What advice would you have for marketing teams looking to jumpstart their own guest engagement program?

The best advice from square one is to start simple and get to know your guests first. Before building a lot of campaigns, look at your loyalty data and identify a few clear guest groups (new, frequent, occasional and lapsed). Then create one simple, relevant reason for each group to engage and come back. From there, learn what works, refine your segments and gradually make the program more personalized!

How many loyalty members do you have? Do you have a plan to grow the program?

We currently have 369.9K Total Registered Members. We plan to grow the program through more personalized, segmented campaigns that meet guests where they are in their Chops loyalty journey. By helping each guest better understand their progress and how they can get the most out of their visits and dollars spent with us, we can make every interaction feel more rewarding. Most importantly, it’s our way of showing our guests how much we appreciate their loyalty and giving them even more reasons to keep coming back!