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VooDoo BBQ works loyalty magic with rewards-based app

VooDoo BBQ & Grill is rewarding customers for purchases and referrals via a new mobile application designed to increase loyalty.

The branded app enables customers to accrue loyalty points for purchases and displays the earned points on their mobile devices. Users also receive five points for logging into the app via Facebook.

?Customers expect to engage with their favorite restaurant brands on mobile ? for everything from finding the nearest location of Voodoo, earning rewards for loyalty and referring their friends, sharing reviews about their experiences with friends on social media, to learn about the latest offers, etc,? said Jitendra Gupta, CEO of Punchh, Cupertino, CA.

?Restaurants rely on word-of-mouth to acquire new customers but they know very little about these customers,? he said.

?Engaging loyal customers and inviting them to them come back more frequently or to have them drive referrals is really the best way to drive measurable revenue at a restaurant.?

A rewarding visit
VooDoo BBQ & Grill is a chain of 16 restaurants that sells slow-smoked, New Orleans-style BBQ in three states.

The restaurant chain is leveraging Punchh?s Marketing Automation Platform to power its loyalty app. Punchh?s platform is cloud-based and integrates with mobile, social media and merchants? point-of-sale systems.

Users download the app to their iPhone or Android and can sign up with Facebook or with just their email.

To use it, customers place an order and receive a receipt. At the bottom of the receipt is a unique bar code that can be scanned with the app to earn rewards for the visit.

The app automatically awards them the right points based on the loyalty program that the operator has defined.

Right after users earn points, they can write a review and share it with the operator and their friends via social channels.

When customers accumulate enough rewards, they can redeem points to get a free appetizer, a free dessert or even a free entree. They can also gift these rewards to their friends and earn more rewards by participating in various social campaigns such as special invitations, group rewards and fundraising for causes.

Push notifications
Additionally, users can view the nearest locations of the restaurant and which offers are available. They can also receive push notifications from the operators directly to their phones

The app will enable VooDoo BBQ to gather customer purchasing data, so it can target customers with specific offers designed to drive purchases and deliver higher rewards. It is integrated with the chain?s Micros POS system so it can tally customer purchases and referrals.

The chain will consider expanding the app?s features in the future to include surveys, gaming and gift cards.

The app is available for iOS and Android devices.

?One of the important learnings we have had is that, with the right rewards, customers love to engage with the brands and love to talk about food. One of our chain customers, in just eight weeks after introducing the app to its customers on March 20, has seen over 100k downloads and generated 10 times more reviews then all other social media - including Yelp! - combined,? Mr. Gupta said. ?The measureable ROI to date is well in excess of 300 percent.?

Final Take
Chantal Tode is associate editor on Mobile Marketer, New York