Subway Restaurants has announced a new partnership with Turnstyle Solutions, a Toronto-based company that helps businesses monetize their wifi. The company, founded in 2012, creates customized campaigns triggered by location, number of visits, date or demographic information.
As part of a pilot program, Subway is giving away a six-inch sandwich to every customer who logs in to the wifi at participating locations in northern Ontario. After signing in for the first time, guests receive a push notification with a coupon for the free sub. Once customers have opted-in, the network remembers them and each subsequent visit could offer them additional rewards.
“We are constantly looking for ways to enhance the experience in store,” said Steve Beaudry, board chair of Subway Canada Franchisee Advertising Trust. “Turnstyle’s technology was appealing because it evolves the way that we can interact with our consumers, providing a platform for direct communication and a new innovative reward system for our patrons, all through wifi.”
For customers, one big benefit is that “they’ll continue to get all kinds of free stuff and new offerings,” Matt Hunter, co-founder of Turnstyle Solutions, told Marketing.
Hunter (noting his obvious bias) said the technology is going to dramatically change the QSR landscape in terms of how companies think about consumer loyalty. “This technology is like the CRM for the restaurant,” he said.
“The massive benefit is that you’re able to see who these people are—particularly if they log in through Facebook, you’re able to determine more demographic information,” he said. “The second major benefit is retention. It’s about opting in as many people as possible through wifi, so that they’re in your loyalty 2.0 program and you can reach out to them directly.”
