Paytronix AI Drives 6.5% Annual Sales Growth for Smashburger

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smash burger

Founded in Colorado in

2007

A fast-casual operator serving a better burger

Famous for certified Angus beef
burgers smashed on the grill

236

corporate and franchise restaurants in

36 states and 8 countries.

Data-Driven Smash Club Rewards

An innovative company which is always seeking new and exciting ways to motivate guests, Smashburger leveraged its loyalty data and Paytronix’s AI and machine learning to create personalised, one-to-one marketing campaigns. These initiatives played a major role in helping the company meet its sales-growth objectives amid a challenging economic climate.

Smashburger Leverages Paytronix’s

In light of such success, the burger brand perfectly exemplifies the benefits of AI to IA – the practice of using artificial intelligence to drive individual action. As a Data Insights client, Smashburger enlisted Paytronix’s AI to IA services to “micro-segment” its customer base and create a powerful, data-driven loyalty program. Through personalised, one-to-one marketing campaigns, it has steadily driven additional sales.

In 2020, the loyalty program accounted for at least $1.9 million in incremental sales, which represents an incredible 6.5% of the brand’s overall sales growth for the year. Smashburger hopes to smash that number in 2021 by nearly doubling the brand impact of the program.

Last year’s relaunch saw Smashburger replace its old rewards programme with a new improved one designed to enhance insight and increase brand agility. Whereas all Smashburger guests had previously received the same rewards and messaging, they are now laser targeted based on preferences and behaviour.

“Through the SmashClub Rewards program, we utilized the Paytronix tools to tailor communications in a way targeted to what guests enjoy,” said Loyalty Manager Lexi Ryan.

With its data-driven and AI-powered campaigns, Smashburger was able to achieve a far more profitable campaign structure while also providing rewards that align with the individual preferences of its guests. Clustering algorithms were used to send out segmented campaigns that generated a greatly improved level of engagement.

The results reflected:

Smash Club Rewards
SmashClub Rewards program

Tactics deployed include:

  • Small tests to boost visit frequency
  • Reengagement campaigns
  • Segmentation of members based on purchase behaviour to create a personalised guest experience:
    • A veggie burger promotion that targeted guests who typically don’t buy beef
    • LTO that rewarded frequent purchasers of fries with a free order if they tried a new menu offering
  • Refined member benefits (double and triple points for Gold and Platinum members; preferred birthday rewards)
  • Order-and-delivery incentives (triple points for ordering online)

“Offers are tied to core behavior so that guests get what they love. We want them to make their experience personal.”

– LEXI RYAN, LOYALTY MANAGER, SMASHBURGER

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