Applebee's Expanding Rewards Program To Boost Business
By Megan Zielinski, contributing writer
DineEquity owned restaurant chain, Applebee’s, will now be serving loyalty and reward perks, along with new menu additions in an effort to please diners and improve restaurant performance.
Applebee’s Perks Rewards Program, tested last year in 23 Kansas City restaurants, will now be implemented in 160 U.S locations throughout Kansas, Delaware, Florida, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Missouri, Washington, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania. To participate in the Perks Program, customers must sign-up online or by texting “Perks.” With each visit to Applebee’s, members collect perks by providing servers with their personal phone number as their identification number. Applebee’s saves customers from having to keep tally of their perks, as the amount of purchases are recorded in the restaurant’s POS system, syncing it online to members’ accounts and emails. When members have accumulated enough perks, the restaurant alerts them through email or their Applebee’s Perks account, of the particular perk they are qualified for. Members can receive free appetizers, desserts, and other menu items, discounts, special new-item previews, cooking/bartending tips, invitations to special restaurant events, recipe books, entertainment advice, and more. Once issued out, members have 14 days to use their perks. Along with perk notifications, Applebee’s also sends recipes and other special program benefits to members through email.
In the beginning of the year, Applebee’s has expanded their menu selections, determined to appeal to the growing amount of health conscious diners, by adding a wide variety of healthy kids menu items—offering over 650 combinations of Kids LiveWell-Approved Meals than any other casual dining restaurant in the U.S.
More new items in were introduced in February and fan favorites were provided at pleasing prices, including Applebee’s signature Quesadilla Burger. “The Quesadilla Burger has been a staple on the Applebee’s menu for nearly 10 years. Combining an American classic with a Mexican influence keeps Applebee’s fans coming back time and time again,” said Peter Czizek, Applebee’s Vice President of Culinary and Menu Strategy.
In early December of last year, Applebee’s announced that all 1,860 U.S restaurants will be installed with tabletop tablets by the end of 2014. The restaurant will continue to expand its functions including, video streaming, access to music, social media use, gift card purchasing, and additional games—further heightening customers experiences. “Starting out, our goal was to create a way for guests to control when and how they pay their check. What we learned after nearly two years of testing is we can provide much more. The Presto tablet will deliver our guests a robust slate of offerings for not only transactions, but entertainment, social interaction and more, moving forward,” said Mike Archer, Applebee’s President.
After experiencing declines in sales over the past three quarters and a drop in shares by 3.2 percent so far this year, Applebee’s is executing these new changes in order to keep up with competition and bring more customers back into the neighborhood. “DineEquity chief executive officer, Julia Stewart said, “We have to continue to evolve, move faster and think bigger in order to break through and differentiate our brand.”