Sweetgreen, the destination for simple, seasonal, healthy food, announced the launch of their new iOS app Sweetgreen Rewards. The first of its kind in the healthy fast-casual space, the thoughtful app redefines the guest experience with seamless integration and single sign-on for mobile ordering, mobile payment, and a rewards program, all with a sleek interface.
“When we started Sweetgreen, it was all about bridging the gap between healthy eating and convenience. This new app brings us one step closer by reducing wait times,” says Sweetgreen cofounder Jonathan Neman. Sweetgreen designed Sweetgreen Rewards with three things in mind:
Innovation: Online ordering revenue is up 80 percent year over year, and 21 percent of in-store payments at Sweetgreen are processed through the app. Integrating payment, online ordering, and the POS system improves flow, accuracy, and throughput, which enhance the customer experience.
Sustainability: This app is the technological foundation on which Sweetgreen will scale online ordering across the fleet in coming years. Plus, the back-of-house updates eliminate complexity and improve the employee experience.
Impact: These improvements provide on-the-go ordering capabilities and shorten pickup times, bridging the gap between health and convenience. Each Sweetgreen has the potential to dramatically increase its throughput with these changes, which means it can further scale healthy eating. To date, Sweetgreen has raised $95 million to fuel the company’s growth—that includes growing the footprint of the company, meeting consumer needs and providing greater access to healthy food.
The innovative lifestyle brand is ahead of the curve when it comes to adoption of the latest technology and evolving the sophistication of its operations. The Sweetgreen tech and operations teams collaborated to develop an algorithm to optimize incoming online order flow and the in-store salad-production thresholds. This research has inspired a new back-of-house setup and a designated pickup area in the front, so customers can seamlessly grab their pre-paid salads in a separate queue.
“We believe that great technology enhances real life experiences, it does not replace true human connections. We wanted to create a digital platform that mirrors the in-store experience, builds a foundation for future innovation and allows us to serve more people better food,” Neman says.
The new app mirrors the in-store experience with compelling, bright imagery, and local sourcing information. The app also flags dietary restrictions, lets you save your favorite salads in four taps, integrates with the iOS Health app to track meals, and offers on-demand pick-up. You can even request an Uber to bring you to Sweetgreen to pick up your salad.
Payments will be processed immediately in the app, using the credit card on file, which means all online orders will be prepaid, and every app transaction will accrue loyalty rewards. For in-store purchases, Sweetgreen app users can scan the app for quick payment and to earn rewards.
Sweetgreen Rewards is a loyalty program in which users earn a $9 credit for every
$99 they spend. There are three loyalty levels—green, gold, and black—with varying degrees of swag and perks, including Sweetlife festival tickets and exclusive dinners. Customers previously earned rewards solely by paying in-store, but the new app and single sign-on mean guests will earn rewards for mobile or online transactions, and they can view their progress in the app or online in real time. Because Sweetgreen is invested in local communities, 1 percent of app purchases for green status and above are donated to local Sweetgreen in schools partners to help teach kids about healthy eating and the importance of nutrition.
The new Sweetgreen Rewards app for iOS users is now available and will automatically download for customers who have the existing app and have enabled automatic updates. New users should download the app and create an app login, which should be used on order.Sweetgreen.com. An Android version of the app is in development.
