In the fast-food business, you know that a customer who pushes open the door once isn't necessarily a winner. The real challenge is to keep them coming back again and again, until they become regulars. And that's where customer loyalty becomes a formidable weapon. And today, the most powerful tool to activate this loyalty is no longer a simple paper card... but your order terminals.
In addition to speeding up service, they enable you to set up an ultra-efficient loyalty program that's visible on every visit, easy to use for the customer, and above all, fully automated. The result: more engagement, more repeat business, more sales.
A well-designed loyalty program, especially one integrated into your kiosks, is a powerful strategic tool for boosting sales, gaining a deeper understanding of your customers, and strengthening their loyalty to your brand. But how do you choose the right program and leverage it effectively? Find the answer below.
There’s still one challenge: At the counter, it’s the staff member who offers the loyalty card. At the kiosk, no one does that for them. It’s up to the screen to convince the customer to sign up—in just a few seconds and without slowing down their order.
Customer feedback boosts your sales, reduces your marketing spend and gives you a clear view of customer behavior via your kiosks.
A loyal customer is a profitable customer. The average fast-food regular spends 67 % than a new customer over a given period. They order faster, explore your new products and return regularly, stabilizing and securing your revenues and making it easier to forecast sales.
Acquiring new customers is expensive: advertising, promotions, partnerships and so on. Retaining an existing customer is much cheaper and generates more comfortable margins. For example, offering a dessert to every 10ᵉ passers-by is often more profitable than a 20% discount to entice a customer who may never return.
With a kiosk, every order becomes an opportunity to collect valuable data: favorite products, frequency of visits, opening hours. This information can be used to personalize your offers and rewards, turning a simple checkout into an effective loyalty lever.
By integrating your loyalty program into the kiosk, you offer your customers a seamless, motivating experience. When they log in, they can see at a glance their points balance, available rewards and personalized offers.
This transparency reinforces the desire to come back and gives a feeling of immediate gratification. Better still, they can activate a reward with a single click, without staff intervention. The result: an optimized customer experience, reduced queuing and loyalty boosted by simplicity.
According to the VML agency’s “Loyalty Pulse France 2026” study, which surveyed 1,200 French people, a direct recommendation from a salesperson remains the primary channel for discovering a loyalty program, across all sectors. Consumers primarily expect benefits that are immediate, easy to understand, and quick to activate. At the kiosk, there is no salesperson—the screen must fill that role.
The stakes are high: according to Atlas 2026 data (a panel of restaurants equipped with Innovorder, January through October), the average check (excluding tax) at the self-service kiosk is €16.85, compared to €12.38 at the register—a 36% increase. Customers who order at the kiosk are therefore the ones a loyalty program has the most to gain from bringing back.
Before placing an order, the customer is taken to a selection screen. Depending on the authentication methods enabled in your program, the customer can:
This last option matters: a customer in a hurry who is forced to sign up is likely to abandon their order.
From the back office, the order kiosk screen editor allows you to customize two screens, with a live preview:
Good to know: Registration recharges the restaurant's terminals. It's best to make these adjustments outside of service hours.
For a restaurant chain or franchise network, consistency is key: customers should experience the same brand promise at every restaurant. The screen deployment feature allows you to copy a restaurant’s configuration to other locations, screen by screen. Before confirming, a summary shows which restaurants already had their own custom settings, which will be replaced.
👉 Learn more: Order Kiosks: 7 Essential Features
Loyalty without objectives is a waste of time: a successful loyalty program translates into concrete results for your sales.
To evaluate your program, use these metrics:
Rather than aiming for a theoretical return on investment, compare members and non-members over the same period: average basket size, frequency of visits, and the percentage of orders placed at the kiosk. It’s this difference that indicates whether your rewards are properly calibrated. Even a small perk, such as a free drink after several visits, can be enough to bring a customer back—provided it’s visible and easy to obtain.
The trick is to create attractive, yet profitable rewards. Rather than selling off your menus, offer a dessert, a drink or priority access to new products. These little gestures cost little and strengthen customer relations while preserving your margins.
👉 To learn more: Customer loyalty: how to get your customers to actually use your program?
Not all loyalty techniques are created equal: some are much more effective than others when it comes to keeping customers coming back.
The "nth free meal" remains a staple. Simple and easy for the customer to understand, it must nevertheless be carefully designed so as not to impact your profit margins. For example, offering a dessert or a drink instead of a full meal can be enough to retain a customer .
Status levels ("Bronze," "Silver," "Gold") motivate customers to achieve exclusive rewards. This loyalty technique creates a sense of belonging and challenge that encourages regular customers to return more often and increase their average spend.
Referral programs help retain existing customers and attract new ones . A reward for both the referrer and the referred customer ("one free meal for each") is a simple, inexpensive, and effective way to expand your customer base.
Thanks to kiosks or apps, you can tailor your rewards to each customer's habits: a preferred menu at a reduced price, a suggested accompaniment or a promotion on the most ordered product. Personalization has a significant impact on engagement and re-purchase rates.
Combining a kiosk, mobile app and physical loyalty card enables us to reach more customers and track their behavior at different touchpoints. This improves data collection and program take-up.
With certain integrations, such as Zerosix, a customer who has registered at the kiosk automatically has their loyalty account linked when they create an account for online ordering: their points carry over from one channel to another, without the need to register again. This is one of the improvements that Damien, a Bchef franchisee with three kiosks, appreciates: his customers can use their loyalty points at the kiosk just as they do for click-and-collect.
Offering your loyal customers access to new products, events or previews creates a sense of privilege and strengthens their attachment to your brand.
You can reward not only visits, but also actions such as sharing the restaurant on social networks, leaving a review or taking part in interactive games and challenges. This combines loyalty and viral marketing.
To manage an effective program, several loyalty software systems are integrated with Innovorder kiosks. The new kiosk login process is compatible with four of them:
The choice depends on your goals: simplicity, customization, multi-channel, etc. See all partners on the Innovorder integrations page.
👉 To find out more : Customer loyalty: the loyalty card as a solution
Even the best loyalty programs can stagnate without follow-up: analyze, adjust and evolve your rewards to maximize impact.
The kiosks can be used to track shopping habits: favorite products, frequency of visits, times spent in the store. This data can then be used to send personalized offers, such as a special menu for customers who order it frequently.
A program only works if your teams present it well. Encourage them to clearly explain how the program works, and to encourage customers to sign up directly at the kiosk.
To prepare them, organize hands-on sessions and demonstrations, so that they master all the mechanics and rewards, and can answer any questions guests may have. Result: a motivated team that knows the program translates into committed, loyal customers.
At the kiosk, the screen takes over from the team: it must use the same argument, with the same example of a reward, so that the message remains consistent across channels.
Set up monthly reporting to track frequency of visits, average basket and retention. Based on this data, adjust your rewards and marketing actions to maintain customer interest and identify those at risk of disengagement.
A poorly thought-out loyalty program can quickly become costly and discourage your customers: it's best to anticipate the pitfalls before launching.
A program that's too complex discourages customers. Make it clear and understandable from the very first visit to maximize buy-in and commitment. For example, a points system or an easy-to-view bonus menu on the kiosk lets customers know immediately what they're winning.
The customer must first choose what to buy, and then be offered the reward to which they are entitled. If the order is reversed, they can redeem a free item without making a purchase, which leads to abuse and frustration at checkout.
Rewards must be interesting for your customers, of course, but above all they must be profitable for you, the restaurateur. Calculate the impact on your margins and plan an overall budget to avoid financial surprises. Test different rewards (drink, dessert, full menu) to identify those that build loyalty without weighing on your profits.
An inactive program quickly loses its effectiveness, which is why it's so important to follow up with your customers regularly via email, SMS or notifications to maintain their interest and stimulate visits. You can also create time-limited offers or mini-challenges to make them want to come back more often.
👉 To find out more : Customer loyalty: 6 ideas for your restaurant
A well thought-out loyalty program that's easy to understand and supported by your order terminals can turn occasional customers into regulars, boost sales and improve margins. By choosing the right mechanics, exploiting customer data and adjusting your actions every month, you can turn loyalty into a genuine growth lever for your restaurant.
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And you? Are your kiosks already equipped to build customer loyalty? Discover how Innovorder can help you implement loyalty programs directly from your kiosks, to boost your sales and maximize customer engagement.
