How to build a digital loyalty scheme for QSRs

Loyalty is no longer a nice-to-have for quick-service restaurants. It has become a business-critical tool for driving revenue, building stronger guest relationships and creating brand advocacy.

According to QSR Media, “three-quarters of fast-food chains in the UK now have a loyalty programme, and nearly all of them are app-based.” That tells its own story: guests expect digital loyalty, and brands are investing heavily to meet those expectations.

The best operators now see digital loyalty schemes as a way to move beyond transactional rewards and into long-term engagement that strengthens brand equity. But launching and maintaining a successful programme that works consistently across all channels is not easy.

Here are five essential tips for building a digital loyalty scheme that drives results.

Tip 1: Set clear goals and definitions for loyalty success

Like any strategy, loyalty starts with clear objectives. What does success look like for your business?

For Chopstix, it was a clear exercise in increasing footfall and average transaction value. “We want more people to come through the door and we want to increase spend,” said Rob Burns, Marketing Director at Chopstix.

Taiwanese restaurant group BAO used its loyalty scheme to encourage guests to visit more than one of their restaurants. “The average user has visited 1.2 locations. If the loyalty app could drive the average user to have visited two or more of our sites, that would be a real win for us,” explained David Staley, Digital Director at BAO.

Success can also be defined by brand affinity. For Mark Lilley, CEO of Abokado, loyalty has been about becoming a deeper part of customers’ lives. “Outside of being somewhere you’ve heard about once or just seen. Somewhere that you want to be.”

Whatever outcomes are best for your business, it is vital to define them upfront and measure progress as you go.

Tip 2: Centralise your tech stack to build an omnichannel journey

The most effective loyalty schemes span all channels: app, online ordering, in-store kiosks and POS. Customers should recognise the process wherever they engage, without friction or gaps.

Rosie Hill, Head of Ecommerce at GAIL’s Bakery, described their move away from a “Frankenstein monstrosity of a tech stack, with bolt on after bolt on” towards a unified platform. “From my perspective, omnichannel means the ability of our customers to move seamlessly between any part of the universe, and to do so without any value trade-off.”

Working with a single provider makes it far easier to deliver consistency across every channel and location, ensuring that loyalty flexes with customer needs whether on mobile, at kiosks or in-store.

Tip 3: Be prepared to gather (and use) a lot of new data

One of the most significant benefits of digital loyalty is the depth of customer data it generates. Demographics, visit frequency, basket size, and channel preference can all influence decision-making.

Mark Lilley of Abokado highlighted the importance of being able to see these data points clearly thanks to loyalty. But operators need to be prepared with a strong data strategy so they can act on insights rather than being overwhelmed by them.

For GAIL’s, two years into their digital loyalty journey, the focus has shifted to making sense of the wealth of data they’ve gathered. “For GAIL’s, the scale right now is about a million data points a week. And our ability to take that data, turn it into insight, and turn that into action is what we’ve focused on this year,” Rosie explained.

With a unified platform, this data becomes far easier to manage. Instead of silos, you get a single reporting view of customer behaviour across channels, enabling truly data-driven loyalty strategies.

Tip 4: Personalisation is key

Customers now expect personalisation. According to McKinsey, 71% of consumers expect it, and 76% get frustrated when they do not find it. Digital loyalty makes this possible by moving beyond transactional offers to tailored experiences.

Honest Burgers provides an impressive example; the burger brand launched its Honest Insiders app earlier in 2025, which allows customers to earn rewards but also gives the brand the opportunity to personalise offers and communications based on purchase history.

Just one month after launch, Honest Burgers’ loyalty programme is already showing remarkable results. Gemma Barter, Senior Digital Marketing Manager, shared some impressive figures: “After one month, we’ve managed to see 25,000 downloads. 11,000 are using our sign-up reward. We’ve got a 14% transaction rate with loyalty, out of all our transactions, which is amazing. Our target was 5%, and we’re at 14%. Our target for downloads was 70,000; we’re at 25,000, so over a third already in month one.”

This is where loyalty schemes can make the biggest difference: by ensuring rewards, communications and offers are relevant and valuable to each customer.