Taco Bell and Other Chains Are Using App Games to Keep Customers Coming Back. Is It Working?
Restaurants can’t stop playing around. Prize drawings and spin-to-win rewards are showing up in loyalty apps from Taco Bell to Smoothie King.
Two out of three Americans play video games every week, most of them on their phones. Fast-food chains want a piece of that screen time, and restaurant gamification is how they plan to get it.
Taco Bell is the latest. Rewards members can play a new mini game every Monday through Nov. 1, according to Nation’s Restaurant News, earning “Paddles” that enter them into drawings for prizes like a signed Davante Adams jersey. Domino’s launched its first in-app game, Soccer Shootout, this summer, and Burger King is running a sweepstakes for Royal Perks members with weekly cash prizes of up to $5,000.
The strategy appears to pay off. Smoothie King’s spin-to-win style games generated more than 2 million plays and lifted loyalty sign-ups by more than 40% in their first three months, according to PAR Technology, which built the platform. The games also helped bring back lapsed customers without relying on deep discounts.