Burger King announced on Tuesday that it is testing a new rewards-based loyalty platform for digital customers.
Dubbed “Royal Perks,” Burger King’s fresh platform allows guests to accrue points—“crowns”—whenever they place an order on the Burger King app or at BK.com. For every $1 a guest spends, they earn 10 crowns. The crowns are then redeemable on future purchases, and count toward the whole Burger King menu.
Whitney Gretz, VP of digital and loyalty at Burger King, says the Royal Perks launch is “one step in a broader journey” that is bringing the company up to date through digital platforms, a journey that’s also included delivery, mobile order and pay, and ordering integration through Google.
“We know that if customers engage with us digitally, we’ll get their data and will be able to provide more personalized, more convenient, more relevant offers,” she says. “And each time they come back, their experiences get better and better.”
Gretz says Burger King developed Royal Perks using guest feedback for what they want in a rewards program. She points out four features to the platform that were developed based on that feedback, and which she says help the platform stand out among the quick-service industry.
One is the fact that Burger King’s whole menu is available when redeeming crowns; many companies restrict rewards to certain menu items. Another is that delivery orders count toward rewards so long as they are placed on Burger King’s app or website. Third is the birthday reward; rather than earn a coupon or freebie on their birthdays, guests earn double points on Burger King purchases throughout their whole birthday month.
Finally, rewards members have access to a benefit with every single Burger King purchase. Any time they place an order (limited to once daily), they have the option to upsize their drink, fries, or hash browns.
“A big theme that our guests said is they want a benefit every single time,” Gretz says. “They wanted the equivalent of cutting the line at a hotel or airline. They don’t want to wait till they have enough points.”
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Burger King is testing Royal Perks in Los Angeles, Long Island, Miami, New Jersey, and New York City. It’s slated to go nationwide by the end of the year.
Gretz says Burger King plans to refine the platform through the testing. And while Royal Perks was in development even before COVID, she says the pandemic has given new importance to the digital experience and what brands can do with the data they collect from every transaction.
“It just becomes so much faster and easier for you as a guest,” she says. “It’s really about making your Burger King guest experience intuitive and easy. You don’t have to think about it.”
Royal Perks is just the latest in a string of brand evolutions for Burger King in the last several months. In September, the company revealed its store prototype of the future, a design that includes dedicated mobile order and curbside pickup areas, drive-in and walk-up order locations, an enhanced drive-thru experience, exterior dining spaces, and sustainable elements. In October, it announced that it would update its drive thrus with predictive selling capabilities and remote, contactless payment. And in January, Burger King announced its first rebrand in over two decades, which updated its logo, packaging, restaurant merchandise, menuboards, crew uniforms, restaurant signage and décor, social media, and digital and marketing assets.
