As vaccinations continue to become more prevalent, customers are clamoring to return to eateries everywhere. Although this is great in a vacuum, the reality is that the competition for the attention of these flocking diners is stiff. Many businesses, particularly smaller-scale operations with wounded budgets due to the pandemic, will struggle to stand out.
Thankfully, the iconic Rewards Network, a leading financial technology company that provides marketing, loyalty rewards programs, and capital for the restaurant industry, offers a full portfolio of solutions. Although there is no shortage of marketing alternatives available to restaurateurs, only Rewards Network is focused on delivering a restaurant their optimal customer.
“Our mission is simple,” said Rewards Network’s President, Stephen Fusco. “We deliver full price diners to restaurants along with valuable data to run their businesses. More importantly, we provide these services without a costly or complicated technology integration and we only charge our customers when we send them business.”
In addition, Rewards Network has long been known for the access it offers restaurants to capital. “Capital has traditionally been inaccessible to restaurants and so we have been there to offer both advice and solutions that cater to their unique needs,” Fusco explained. “Even with Federal grant options available in the near term, restaurant owners continue to seek working capital solutions that are compatible with the ebb and flow of their businesses. We are unique in that we have skin in the game – we provide capital upfront for the business we send into restaurants by marketing them to our 20 million members. Nobody else in the industry can say that.”
As the nation’s restaurants push the reset button to welcome back the dining public, they face the challenge of finding a patron that will pay full price for their fare. With a network consisting of over two dozen national household name partners such as United Airlines, Marriott, and American Airlines, only Rewards Network brings its restaurant customers access to the most affluent diners in the country.
“There are plenty of other marketing platforms out there. However, none of them are as effective or restaurant-friendly as Rewards Network,” Fusco continued. “Most other platforms prefer to focus on discounting their restaurants’ prices. This means that restaurants run the risk of both reducing potential revenue and diminishing their own brand value. Plus, many of our competitors are priced so that the restaurant pays a fixed cost that isn’t tied into the actual performance of the program. Regardless of how restaurants choose to work with us, we only get paid when we succeed in bringing new customers to a business.”
Not only should Rewards Network’s pricing model be particularly attractive to restaurants in the pandemic environment, their understanding and use of rewards points rather than discounts also saves operators money.
“Discounts incentivize customers to spend as little as possible. Rewards are the exact opposite. They incentivize spending and loyalty. That is why our customers spend more and come back more often,” Fusco added.
Rewards Network offers its restaurant customers over 20 million reward-seeking members. These include frequent flyers, corporate cardholders, and highly-motivated diners, who collectively spend over $750 million annually. “We are putting the power of the world’s most sought after loyalty brands into the hands of small business operators all across the country.”
For over 35 years, Rewards Network has worked tirelessly to support the industry, introducing customers to dining experiences they’ll love, and giving restaurants the means they need to reach their utmost potential. “There is an incredible amount of pent up demand out there, and we see our members dining with more and more frequency every day. Our goal is to help our restaurant customers benefit as spending returns, and to provide them with the capital they need to invest in their businesses,” Fusco concluded.
To learn more about Rewards Network, visit their website.
