BJ's Brewhouse
Raising the Bar: How BJ’s Brewhouse Boosted Loyalty and Revenue Share
Strategic Moves That Turned Stretch Goals into Milestones
The Challenge
Facing a downturn in the casual dining market and rising inflation, BJ’s focused on its loyalty program to drive increased customer frequency and spend. With loyalty customers already outperforming non-members, BJ’s set an ambitious goal: a 20% revenue increase during key quarters, surpassing all previous growth.
The Strategy
The strategy centered on three key pillars: acquisition, adoption, and frequency. First, BJ’s prioritized growing loyalty membership to expand opportunities. Next, adoption focused on turning members into active, loyal customers. Finally, frequency targeted both new and existing members to capture greater market share from competitors.
The Solution
Acquisition: BJ’s leverages its restaurant atmosphere to attract guests. The restaurant team, showcasing their hospitality, played a key role in converting new or occasional guests to the loyalty program. This cost-effective strategy relied on in-house marketing rather than expensive digital campaigns.
Adoption: After converting new customers into loyalty members, communication was set up. A data-backed welcome series was introduced to promote the behaviors of top-tier members. Getting these members to return quickly established dining routines, enhancing their long-term value to the brand.
Frequency: Legacy members are crucial to meeting goals, as they contribute most of the loyalty revenue. To keep them engaged, targeted messaging, cadence mapping, and surprise incentives were used to maintain and grow their participation throughout the year.
The Results
The 20% stretch revenue goal was exceeded with a 27% increase, making loyalty a larger share of BJ’s revenue. This boosted BJ’s market share and outperformed competitors during a challenging financial period. The expanded loyalty audience sets the stage for sustainable revenue and frequency growth.
Revenue Goal
Revenue Goal
Boosting Customer Retention Through
Data-Driven Insights
