News

Jersey Mike's loyalty program earns award for innovation

October 10, 2012

Hospitality Technology (HT) magazine has named Jersey Mike's Subs as one of the winners of its 2012 Restaurant Breakthrough Awards.

Jersey Mike's Subs, with 560 franchised locations nationwide, was awarded for achievement as an Enterprise Innovator for its rollout of a rewards program that increased brand awareness and loyalty while replacing paper punch methods and cutting down on fraud.

Named Shore Points Rewards, the program, in place at 551 locations, integrates with the company's proprietary POS technology. The program leverages the latest in NFC technology with mobile marketing and messaging services including a smartphone application and local text messaging to Shore Points members.

"Jersey Mike's Subs is proud to receive this award which validates our innovative Shore Points Rewards," said Scott Scherer, Jersey Mike's chief information officer. "The success of this program speaks to the outstanding collaboration of our executive, operations, marketing and IT teams. This teamwork enabled us to seamlessly integrate our own bar code based loyalty program with the SkyPop NFC mobile marketing platform to create a truly superior customer loyalty and retention product without impacting in-store operations."

Every year, HT presents its Breakthrough Awards to a select group of foodservice companies for outstanding vision and achievement in delivering technological excellence to the operation and the guest experience. Winning companies are chosen based on their vision and execution; consideration is given to size, resources and individual market segment benchmarks to ensure that companies from across the industry are recognized for their efforts.

Breakthrough Awards were presented in two categories: Enterprise Innovator and Customer Engagement Innovator. Legal Sea Foods, with 32 restaurant locations, earned this year's Customer Engagement Innovator award for its point-of-service initiatives.

The company implemented a secure method of payment where credit cards never have to leave customers' hands and a new option for ordering with a handheld device. The wireless strategy has streamlined operations and allows servers to spend more time with customers. Added benefits of the rollout have been reduced server errors, increased beverage sales and enabling servers to handle more guests during peak hours.

Winners were judged by HT editorial staff and advisory board on a basis of innovation, thought leadership, execution and forward-thinking vision, and announced at the Restaurant Executive Summit Oct. 9, in Charleston, S.C.

"Restaurants are shedding their slow-to-innovate reputation, and are really starting to embrace technologies that can have a positive impact on their operations, and on the experience of their guests," said Abigail A. Lorden, editor in chief of Hospitality Technology. "Through our Breakthrough Awards, we seek to acknowledge the industry's progress, and are thrilled to honor Legal Sea Foods and Jersey Mike's Subs for their efforts."

Past Breakthrough Award Winners Include:Domino's Pizza LLC (2011); Subway Restaurants (2011); Tasti D-Lite (2011); Jack in the Box (2010); ERJ Dining LLC (2010); Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar (2010); Morton's Restaurant Group (2009); T.G.I. Friday's (2009); Hard Rock International (2009); Cara Operations (2008); uWink (2008); Marco's Pizza (2008); Legal Sea Foods (2007); Ruth's Chris Steakhouse (2007); Kahala - Cold Stone Creamery (2007); Jason's Deli (2006); Noodles & Co (2006); and Buca Inc. (2006)

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