Dive Brief:
- On the Border has added a tiered structure to its loyalty program, the brand announced Wednesday.
- The Silver Tier is applicable to customers who have spent less than $250 in 2023 and the Gold Tier is applicable to those who spend over $250 for the period.
- These loyalty changes follow the expiration of On the Border’s Queso Club promotion, which offered guests free queso for a year for a dollar, Suzie Tsai, the brand’s VP of marketing, said in the statement.
Dive Insight:
On the Border is the latest chain to add a tiered loyalty structure. Daily rewards and tier structures give companies more opportunities to reward their most frequent guests, while also offering incentives to customers to increase their visits.
An influx of brands into the loyalty space has put pressure on companies to differentiate their rewards offerings through a variety of schemes, including NFTs, palm-scanning indentification technology and increased personalization.
The addition of tiers has proven a popular alternative or addition to simple points-for-dollars programs. P.F. Chang’s added a subscription tier to its loyalty program last September. Sweetgreen’s loyalty program features two rewards tiers, while El Pollo Loco offers four redemption tiers. Dunkin’s Boosted status which three months of enhanced rewards to customers who visit more than 12 times in one month.
On the Border’s loyalty points structure remains unchanged at one point per dollar spent on non-delivery orders, excluding alcohol. Diners can also earn one point for every $10 spent on catering, per the chain’s loyalty FAQ.
This contrasts recent moves by other major brands, which have shifted the costs of redemption or points accumulation pace of their loyalty programs to shave discount rates.
| Tier | Required spend | Discounts | Other new perks | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gold | > $250 annually |
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| Silver | < $250 annually |
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To give a sense of the savings for Gold Tier members, a pickup order of signature queso in Reston, Virginia, costs about $9.49, according to On the Border’s website. A Gold Tier guest would get $4.74 off, or 50% of the cost, compared to $2 off for the Silver Tier guest.
Daily rewards, like On the Border’s daily queso discounts, have proven popular among restaurants. Noodles & Company, for example, added several daily rewards to its program in April. In February, Panera strengthened the subscription level of its loyalty program that offers daily rewards by offering free delivery on some orders.
