Fast food chains Pizza Hut and Boston Market are enhancing their loyalty strategies by giving customers a way to scan 2D bar codes for a chance to win a prize.

The virtual scratch cards are available via the Front Flip app, which has been in the pilot phase in a handful of cities since November and is now being rolled out nationally. Users who download the app can scan 2D bar codes called Flip Codes at participating retail locations and receive a virtual scratch card that gives them a chance to win a prize.

“With Front Flip’s virtual scratch cards, businesses are able to build loyalty by engaging customers in a fun and exciting manner,” said Sean Beckner, cofounder/CEO of Front Flip, Kansas City, KS.

“Traditional loyalty programs do not provide the same level of excitement and true customer engagement that the Front Flip app provides,” he said. “Our unique and fun approach to customer loyalty and engagement provides businesses an opportunity to build their customer cloud much quicker than traditional loyalty programs – and know demographics and behaviors like never before.

“And as the customer cloud builds, the business can create targeted campaigns to drive customers back through the door – time and time again.  And make money doing it.”

Repeat business
The app lets users find participating nearby retail locations and restaurants, as well as keep track of their rewards.

Repeat business is driven by rewarding frequent customers and adding a level of excitement to the purchasing experience.

One of the benefits to participating businesses is that they are able to control what prizes are given away and how often a customer wins.

In addition to Pizza Hut and Boston Market, brands using the Front Flip app include Firehouse Subs, Hooters, Jack Daniels and Wendy’s. Many of the participating businesses have reported increases in sales and repeat business since they began using the app.

For example, Minsky’s Pizza Cafe & Bar had over 9,000 customers with 17,000 scans during a recent campaign using Front Flip, with over 500 customers visiting a location five times (see story).

Embracing mobile loyalty
During the 150-day pilot period for Front Flip, the app saw more than 120,000 user downloads overall.

In the first 75 days that it was available, the number of scans conducted via the app surpassed 100,000. In the following 75 days, there were more than 200,000 new scans.

The company reports that the average Front Flip user scanned an in-store Flip Code more than two times at one or more of the 725 retail locations initially on the platform.

The cities where participating retailers are located include Austin, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York and Philadelphia.

“Fast food restaurants are quickly embracing our mobile platform to drive their loyalty efforts,” Mr. Beckner said. “In addition, they plan to leverage our platform to drive bounce backs from drive through and delivery customers, along with targeting specific day parts.

“They are realizing that our mobile solution is easy to implement, fun for their customers and provides them with better demographics and customer behavior data than any other loyalty programs they have implemented in the past,” he said.