Punchh, a mobile CRM suite for restaurants, formed a strategic partnership with Monkey Media Software and the MMS Catering Institute to create the industry’s first restaurant catering rewards and loyalty program, which will launch in 2014.
Growing consumption of meals prepared away from home and a rise in meals delivered to workplaces helped off-premise catering become one of the fastest-growing sales opportunities for restaurants, says Punchh CEO, Jitendra Gupta. The battle for that revenue, however, is highly competitive, and that led Gupta to MonkeyMedia Software and the MMS Catering Institute.
“Just as a repeat customer of a particular restaurant enjoys getting a free meal for their loyalty, a catering client does also,” says Gupta, whose Silicon Valley company provides more than 1,300 U.S. restaurants with a POS-integrated, cloud-based platform through which operators market to customers. “This is especially important since catering customers spend far more money for catered meals than would a single customer.”
Businesses that can track those sales and their customers’ purchasing habits, Gupta says, can reward them meaningfully while marketing to them effectively.
“When we are out in the field with restaurant operating and marketing leadership, we are often asked about reward and loyalty solutions for catering. Through this partnership, we are bringing an industry-leading solution to our customers,” says Wayne Alexander, president of the MMS Catering Institute.
Punchh was certified by the MMS Catering Institute in the Get Catering and Grow sales system, which will allow Punchh to speak the language of catering. “Punchh has built the market’s leading and most comprehensive mobile engagement and rewards platform, and we are proud to have them as a strategic partner," says Erle Dardick, founder and CEO of MonkeyMedia Software and founder of the MMS Catering Institute. "We see a huge opportunity today for restaurant brands to build and deploy catering-specific loyalty programs, and through this partnership, we will further enable our restaurant customers to feed, and now reward, their customers where they live, work, and play.”
Gupta says his team is eager to work with the MMS Catering Institute.
“Through this partnership, we can deliver the industry’s first solution to help restaurant chains grow their catering business by rewarding customers for their repeat business,” he says.
