Restaurant Data: Serving the Right Incentives for Sign Ups

Many restaurants rely on email and SMS marketing to keep diners coming back, but knowing how to reach out — and what incentives to offer — is key to growing subscriptions and avoiding customer fatigue. Recent research from Wunderkind sheds light on which demographics are most willing to subscribe and what actually drives people to opt in.

• Email is the most preferred method for receiving restaurant promotions and news, favored by 48% of diners, and particularly older generations. Meanwhile, younger consumers show a stronger preference for text messages, cited by 43% of millennials and 45% of Gen Z, compared to 37% overall. 
• 40% of surveyed diners say they’re subscribed to multiple restaurant lists, with even higher shares for millennials (51%) and Gen X (48%). 
• On the flip side, 26% say they are only opted in to their favorite restaurants, while 18% say they aren’t subscribed but would consider it and 16% say they don’t want any marketing messages at all. 
• To entice signups, restaurants should focus on offering exclusive deals and promotions, as well as loyalty or reward programs, as both were ranked by 41% of respondents as a top motivator for opting in. 
• Offering a discount on a first order would compel 25% of diners to sign up, and that share is even higher for Gen Z, at 33%. 
• Other factors that have diners considering signing up are birthday and special occasion offers (23% of all respondents, rising to 27% with millennials) and early access to new menu items (11%). 

Get more restaurant-focused consumer insights by downloading Wunderkind’s full report here.