Winning back lapsed guests by engaging with them at the right moment is key for retailers.
Paytronix Systems Inc., an innovator in mobile loyalty and online ordering applications, mobile payment and digital communication tools, has released a Data Insights research brief that identifies 80-90 days as the key average window for winning back lapsed guests.
The report explains how “mitigating the impact of lapsed guests can have a high impact on traffic and same-store sales” and outlines key strategies for getting these guests back to drive incremental revenue.
“Be careful to only implement a win-back campaign after you’ve taken the time to separate truly lapsed guests, or you’ll be discounting loyal customers who already plan to return,” said Lee Barnes, head of Paytronix Data Insights. “This new brief explains how to separate out truly lapsed guests and identify the window where it’s most effective to engage with them—along with proven strategies to win the customer back.”
The Paytronix research brief outlines the following steps to strategically determine when to send a “we miss you offer” to a guest:
- Track and measure the variability in guest visit frequency;
- Begin with a small offer first, then increase to more valuable offers as guest absences stretch 2-3 times their average visit frequency;
- Keep a control group to measure the true impact of the campaign.
“Guest lapsing is a part of life and will happen no matter how great your concept and your loyalty program. Remember, a known lapsed guest is ALWAYS better than an unknown one. If the guest is unknown, you probably won’t even know that they’ve stopped coming in,” said Barnes. “Winning back lapsed guests can significantly impact your restaurant’s sales and traffic, but you can only do this if you know enough about the guest to A) be confident that they’ve lapsed and B) send an offer that resonates with them.”
