How Chick-Fil-A Overtakes the Competition Through Its Loyalty Program

Chick-fil-A’s sales are very impressive. QSR Magazine’s 2017’s report showed that it had a $4.4 million average sales per restaurant—more than McDonald’s $2 million and KFC’s $3.3 million.

A significant part of its success can be attributed to its loyalty program which boasts 13 million active users, according to Digiday.

How did it use its loyalty program to overtake fast-food giants? Let’s take a look at how they win customer’s hearts:

1. “Chick-fil-A” one  boosts sales via its loyalty program

Chick-fil-A’s loyalty program allows members to get 10 points, for every $1 spent. They then use these rewards and points to get rewards.

And rewards improve as your annual spend increases. On the left, you can see the different tiers of their loyalty program. The tier system also encourages members and regular customers to reach the next tier for better rewards.

Members also receive rewards during their birthdays. And they can give rewards as gifts to friends once they reach Chick-fil-A One Silver and Chick-fil-A One Red Member status.

2. Chick-fil-A uses Rewards to Boost Membership

Chick-fil-A understands that the best way to boost membership is to give rewards.

In fact, to promote its loyalty program, they gave out free nuggets from August 30 to September 29, 2018.

Worth downloading an app and creating an account for.

To get the freebie, customers had to sign in to their Chick-fil-A One account or create their own account to get an order of eight nuggets. The giveaway was then visible on the app’s “My Rewards” tab.

Now that’s how you get customers to download your app and create an account – everyone loves free nuggets!

3. Chik-fil-A offers a convenient Drive-Thru Experience

Convenient pick-up and drive-thru experiences aren’t something new. In previous blog posts, we’ve discussed how it’s used by successful giants like MyPanera and Dunkin Donuts to improve customer experiences.

Not surprisingly, Chick-Fil-A has also joined the game.

Customers have the ability to order their meals through the Chick-fil-A One app and pick them up at the drive-thru instead of going into the restaurant.

Digital apps offer a smoother checkout experience, like at Panera Bread and Dunkin Donuts

“This new feature allows our guests to have a effortless experience when they arrive at Chick-fil-A,” said Brianna Castle, Senior Coordinator for Service Innovation. “They can put even more trust and confidence in us as we deliver their order in the drive-thru.”

4. Chick-fil-A uses data to improve their loyalty program

Chick-fil-A’s loyalty program has been around for quite some time. But their current customer rewards app, was previously overhauled.

Michael Lage, senior manager of digital and mobile experience for Chick-fil-A said thousands of customers have complained about about their points system. As a result. they gathered data and looked at app store reviews, customer surveys and held their own focus groups.

And it’s not the first time they used feedback to improve. Last November, Chick-fil-A redesigned its payment section after a design flaw misled customers into thinking that they had to upload cash to order food. Chick-fil-A cares about the customer experience, and wants to ensure a smooth experience.

The Secret to Chick-fil-A’s loyalty program success:

Here’s what we’ve learned from Chick-fil-A’s loyalty strategy:

1. Create a loyalty program with a simple points systems and generous rewards.
2. Reward customers to increase sign-ups.
3. Implement convenient drive-thru experiences.
4. Use data and customer feedback to improve your loyalty program.