Up Česká republika, a company specialising in employee benefits, has developed a new loyalty programme called the Up Club. This is the largest domestic loyalty programme in the food and beverage industry, with over 10,000 participating restaurants accepting payments using eStravenka. The loyalty programme is designed to encourage employees to eat out regularly and help restaurateurs revive their businesses shaken by the coronavirus crisis.
The current lifting of emergency measures will mean life will “return to normal” in many ways. However, fundamental changes occurred in certain areas and industries during the state of emergency, and the consequences could be severe. People may be forced struggle with those effects long into the foreseeable future. The food and beverage industry is undoubtedly one of these industries.
“Restaurants now need their customers more than ever to re-start their businesses. Although many of them did operate during the state of emergency and found ways to cater for their customers with take-away services or food deliveries, revenues for the vast majority of them have plummeted,” said Stéphane Nicoletti, CEO of Up Česká republika. “After launching our search tool for restaurants offering take-away services and quicker voucher redemption, the loyalty programme is the next stage in our support for restaurants.”
Every eleventh meal free
How does the programme work? Every customer who spends CZK 100 in a restaurant and pays using eStravenka will be awarded 10 points. When they have collected 100 points, Up Česká republika will credit their eStravenka account with CZK 100. In practice, this means they get every eleventh meal free. Customers can also check the status of their loyalty account, their current eStravenka balance or daily eStravenka balance in the mobile application.
Apart from supporting restaurants, the new loyalty programme aims to encourage the most meaningful possible use of employers’ contributions towards meals. “With the Up Club loyalty programme, we want to motivate employees to have high-quality lunches during their lunchtime breaks every day,” said Petra Prchlíková, Sales Director at Up Česká republika, describing the scheme. The programme also provides incentives for companies and employees to abandon paper luncheon vouchers in favour of electronic or digital solutions.
Over 10,000 restaurants and businesses
All food and beverage businesses and restaurants which accept eStravenka are automatically included in the programme. With the number of restaurants exceeding 10,000, this makes it the largest food and beverage loyalty programme in the Czech Republic. Development took several months, and after the internal testing stage, the programme will be gradually rolled out to all employers and their employees who use the eStravenka card to pay for lunches. They will be able to use the new programme from the start of June.
Customised programmes in the future
The current form of the programme is not the final version. More active involvement by restaurants is planned for the future. Restaurants will be able to join the programme and offer diners more points for spending money at their establishment. Restaurants will also gain access to a new tool for attracting diners to their restaurants on specific days or even specific times. Different loyalty schemes for specific partner businesses are also planned.
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Ruben Vančo Marketing Manager
Father of two daughters, supporter of performance marketing, accelerating half-marathoner, amateur lover of small scenes, fan of electro-swing, coffee hedonist, cheerful cyclist, astounded observer...