Sweetgreen, the Los Angeles-based health-focused fast food chain with more than 150 restaurants, is looking to combine a subscription model with more traditional restaurant rewards to build digital customer loyalty in the future.

In a call with analysts Friday, May 6, Jonathan Neman, co-founder and CEO of the brand, spoke about the success of the company’s “Sweetpass” subscription product. In January, Sweetgreen launched the pilot test of this offer, giving consumers the chance to earn a $3 credit for every purchase (limited to one per day) for 30 days for a one-time $10 fee.

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“We wanted to know who the pass resonated with and, more importantly, how that would influence their frequency,” Neman said.

The program appears to have exceeded expectations. He noted that he exceeded his target with 16,600 consumers buying passes in the three weeks they could and with nine out of 10 customers saying they would be interested in repurchasing their subscription. Additionally, “new, returning and infrequent customers” accounted for 60% of members, and pass holders placed five more orders per month than non-passholders.

Looking ahead, the company aims to integrate subscription offers into a loyalty program that also includes features for non-subscribers.

“We are testing various fidelity frameworks and features throughout 2022,” Neman said. “We believe a redesigned loyalty program that includes both subscription and personalized promotion capabilities will have a force-multiplier effect when you combine it with our healthy menu designed to be eaten every day.”

Such a program wouldn’t be Sweetgreen’s first foray into digital fidelity – hence the use of “reinvented”. In late March 2021, the Culver City, Calif.-based salad chain ended the previous version of its rewards program, citing pandemic hardship as a factor in the restaurant’s site’s FAQ section.

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Research from the February/March edition of the Digital Divide series, “Digital Divide: Restaurant Subscribers and Loyalty Programs,” which is based on a December survey of more than 2,000 American adults, found that Restaurant subscribers are significantly more loyal than their non-subscribers. counterparts.

Read more: Four in 10 consumers are open to restaurant subscription services

The study found that restaurant subscribers are nearly twice as likely to use restaurant loyalty programs as non-subscribers, and subscribers are significantly more likely to report being very or extremely loyal to their customers. favorite restaurants than the population as a whole.

However, not everyone is convinced that loyalty programs will continue to generate the growth expected by many brands. Danielle Fishervice president of marketing at Jamba, a chain of smoothie and juice restaurants owned by Focus Brands with 850 locations in six countries, predicted in a recent interview with PYMNTS that enthusiasm for the model would normalize over time.

See also: Restaurant brands offer predictive personalization to retain members

“I think [a] The most high-profile trend is product-specific subscription services,” she said. “While I don’t think subscriptions will go away, I also don’t think they’ll unlock the exponential growth we’re seeing right now.”