Restaurants Unlimited adopts GraphiCard loyalty & CRM
Restaurants Unlimited of Hawaii is to pilot a GraphiCard loyalty programme from Visible Results, following the card's recent successes in other countries. The programme will initially operate in a few selected Hawaii locations before being rolled out throughout the US.
For the pilot scheme, the cards will be available at the company's Palomino Restaurant, Kincaid's Fish, Chop and Steak House, and Ryan's Grill locations in Honolulu. This is expected to be followed by a full roll-out of the programme in the remainder of the Seattle-based company's US mainland restaurants. The chain currently operates 26 locations under its various brands, across 13 states.
The programme, which has been in its staff preparation and training phase since September 30th, 2002, is based on the on GraphiCard loyalty technology, and its associated customer relationship management (CRM) system, from Visible Results USA.
Programme members' cards are inserted into a smart point-of-sale terminal during each transaction, and a 'thermo-chromic' process updates the front of the card to display points and other personalised data, all of which is designed to attract consumers' attention. With each transaction, the terminal immediately prints customised coupons or other incentives. The cards can display targeted offers, advertising messages, instant win games, and other special promotions.
Special rewards The restaurants will issue custom-designed GraphiCards to identify customers every time they dine. Members earn one point for every US$1 they spend, and they can instantly see points statements and messages on the card's thermal display. Cards can be used in any of the restaurants, and members may redeem their points for dining certificates, movie-and-dinner packs, or for one of two exclusive deals: a chef's dinner for four people, prepared at their home, or a 'progressive dinner' featuring limousine service to each of the three restaurants.
During the pilot, Restaurants Unlimited, whose Hawaiian locations collectively serve more than 7,000 diners per week, plans to use Visible Results' CRM system to improve its understanding of its customers' dining habits. This will include measurements of the amount of cross-traffic between restaurants, and the frequency at which the chain's key customers eat out.
Tanya Phillips, general manager for Ryan's Grill, commented, "This lets us integrate all the promotions we run on one marketing platform, and really measure the results of all our marketing efforts on an individual basis. We hope to learn a lot about what our customers are thinking and doing."
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