As other loyalty re-launches like Dunkin’ vex customers, Kneaders boasts growth of enrollment, online sales, and points redemption.
Kneaders, the Utah-based, award-winning, fast-casual bakery and cafe chain, announced today the results of its revamped loyalty program in partnership with Thanx, the leading loyalty and guest engagement platform. The re-launch of Kneaders' loyalty program allows the brand to leverage the entire suite of enhanced platform capabilities now available with the release of Thanx’s new loyalty 3.0 engine.
Customer response to the new program has been overwhelmingly positive, with a 50% increase in average weekly enrollment, a six-figure month-over-month online sales growth, and over 3 million points already redeemed by customers.
The new program gives guests the flexibility to redeem points for over thirty different rewards items directly within the brand’s digital rewards marketplace. Just for signing up for the relaunched program, members earn a free chocolate mousse dome pastry. The large variety of rewards available to members within the rewards marketplace levels up the loyalty experience, giving guests the option to choose more relevant perks or menu items based on their preferences. For example, program members can redeem points for pastries, salads, and sandwiches, while guests who reach the “Gold” and “Platinum” tiers earn $1 select drinks all day.
Kneaders customers can reach three different program tiers—including gold and platinum—that offer access to exclusive menus with secret menu items and perks at the highest tiers. Kneaders plans to regularly update their rewards and top-tier offerings to drive excitement and keep guests regularly engaging with the program. Kneaders was careful to retain fan-favorite elements of their prior program, including a free pastry automatically awarded to loyalty members on their birthday.
Changes in loyalty programs have been highly contested as of late, most notably with the viral customer backlash to Dunkin’ Donuts’ loyalty program for the brand’s sudden devaluation of points. Kneaders’ credits the successful relaunch of their program to the flexibility and ease-of-use of Thanx’s loyalty platform. With Thanx, the brand has been able to introduce a variety of both discount and non-discount rewards to protect profit margins while still delivering a highly engaging program to customers.
With Thanx’s loyalty engine, brands like Kneaders can change rewards and adjust points values directly in the digital marketplace in response to market shifts. This ability to iterate avoids abrupt overhauls of their program, which can catch consumers off guard as was the case for Dunkin’ Donuts customers.
“We have a strong loyalty base at Kneaders Bakery & Cafe, and this program re-launch was designed to delight them with a generous rewards base and custom rewards throughout the year," said Bailey Scoville, Kneaders’ VP of Strategy, on the success of the new program. "The Thanx team was a resource to us every step of the way, from analyzing customer feedback and consulting on program design to ensuring a seamless transition on launch day. We saw an almost immediate spike in membership and point redemptions following the re-launch. We are thrilled our loyal customers are enjoying the new program, which wouldn't be possible without our partnership with Thanx.”
To enroll or learn more about Kneaders’ loyalty program, visit kneaders.com or download their app in the app store for iOS or Android.
About Kneaders Bakery & Cafe
Founded by Gary and Colleen Worthington in 1997, Kneaders Bakery & Cafe is headquartered in Orem, Utah. The award-winning, fast-casual restaurant uses only the highest quality ingredients to create fresh European hearth breads, delicious sandwiches, mouth watering pastries, hearty soups and refreshing salads, all made in-house each day. All restaurants have a retail section and also offer a variety of custom-made and themed gift baskets in addition to providing catering services. Kneaders Bakery & Cafe currently operates corporate-owned and franchised locations in six western states. For more information, visit kneaders.com.
About Thanx
Thanx, Inc. (www.thanx.com) is the leading loyalty and guest engagement platform for restaurants. Thanx helps brands grow customer lifetime value with easy-to-use lifecycle marketing campaigns and automations, focusing customer loyalty tools on access, status, and personalization over rote discounts. Thanx’s proprietary credit card tokenization technology drastically increases the volume and accuracy of purchase data which sits at the core of our CRM and marketing automation suite of tools. Thanx was founded in 2011 and is headquartered in San Francisco, CA.
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