Engagement is a key driver of measurable growth in QSRs, where loyalty programs have evolved from punch cards and stamps to an integral part of everyday life on customers’ personal devices. With loyalty traffic now driving 50 percent+ of visits at top QSRs, loyalty members visit restaurants 22 percent more often yearly than non-members (Circana, 2025).
However, the challenge lies beyond simply having a passive digital loyalty program in place. Many QSR brands struggle to create meaningful engagement loops or real brand value with their apps. Failing to maintain long-term user interest can mean low engagement and underwhelming returns. Most QSR apps become ghost towns because they lack ongoing incentives or engaging content that motivates users to return and build lasting habit loops, whether the reward is emotional or financial.
The pitfall of one-off perks
Many QSRs turn to one-off perks like QR-based discounts to boost short-term adoption, but these offers often feel purely transactional. When loyalty amounts to just presenting a code for a discount, it may influence decision-making but falls short of building lasting relationships, or app engagement. Although it’s a great way to get customers in the door, it fails to make them feel valued over time.
Designing habit and social engagement
To promote effective repeat engagement with customers, it’s essential to combine habit loops with social cues, competition and recognition. Creating these interactive, socially reinforced systems beyond simple transactional loyalty will boost app activity.
One way to achieve this is by making your users’ behavior visible to others, with built-in socialization elements. Whether this is achieved by customer leaderboards, social proof or notifications that show your friends actions, these act as triggers for engagement, motivating regular, repeated actions and a strong sense of belonging. Monthly leaderboards can drive spikes in activity as users see their friends ‘earning’ rewards.
Building loyalty through rewarded referrals
Referrals work best for QSRs when paired with shared rewards, like “Get a free coffee when your friend orders.” With 86 percent of consumers trusting friends and family recommendations far more than ads (Impact, 2024), this social proof also drives stronger engagement.
Each referral turns customers into brand advocates and brings new users into an ongoing engagement loop. However, attracting users is only the first step; how you retain them is what matters!
Rewarded gaming as an engagement driver
With the number of global gaming users expected to reach 3.04 billion by 2030 (Statista, 2025), there’s clear potential to tap into familiar gaming mechanics that drive retention and repeat engagement. Brands like McDonald’s and Wendy’s have already shown that gamified offers can keep diners opening the app between meals.
Modern loyalty is built on value exchange, as diners now expect more than discounts. In-app games can transform QSR apps from transactional tools into entertaining companions, rewarding users for small actions like daily logins or milestones to boost engagement and spending. These engagement loops bring customers to the app proactively for entertainment, giving them pleasure that they associate with your brand. Especially when the play is rewarded! This resonates especially with younger shoppers, who enjoy interactive and social features and are less responsive to cashback.
Not all users engage equally; a gradual introduction and education to gaming mitigates backlash and maintains positive user experiences. When applied strategically and organically, rewarded gaming can build lasting engagement and help prevent app offloads.
Choreographing lifecycle touchpoints
Regular, varied touchpoints are crucial for sustaining engagement. Relying on a single message or offer won’t sustain interest; the key is novelty and freshness. Even positioning an offer as “buy one, get one” versus “50 percent off” taps into different customer mindsets and can influence behavior significantly.
Without regular content drops—such as discounts, reminders, or partner offers—users are likely to lose interest and stop using the app. Over time, inactive users may have the app automatically offloaded by their device operating system, leaving you with no way to re-engage them until they choose to reinstall.
Well-timed push notifications for new member offers, promotions, or gamified content keep the app relevant and encourage habitual use. Classic examples like McDonald’s Free Fries Friday create habitual return visits through predictable incentives.
Successful lifecycle management blends convenience, novelty, personalization, and timing to make the app a consistent part of the customer’s routine and drive usage.
Durable loyalty starts with habit
With repeat customers driving 71 percent of QSR sales (Restroworks, 2025), loyalty is an invaluable system, built carefully on meaningful, ongoing engagement loops that deliver real value from day one.
While it might appear daunting, with the right approach creating integrated digital loyalty programs is completely achievable. Take a moment to review your current loyalty programs: Are you rewarding isolated actions or have you designed clear, recurring loops? Brands that embed habitual engagement before launch see stronger retention, deeper customer relationships, and richer first-party data. Set the foundation for sustainable growth.
Marc Bearman is a longtime ad tech leader with a track record of scaling high-impact businesses – from building Unity Ads in EMEA to leading X’s MoPub through its $1B acquisition by AppLovin. He most recently served as GM of Gaming at Fetch Play, where he drove significant growth across the portfolio. Now at Mistplay as GM, Loyalty Solutions, Bearman is steering the next wave of product innovation, empowering publishers with new play-and-earn tools that elevate loyalty and LTV.
