Since replacing its punch card loyalty program with a mobile-based version six months ago, restaurant chain Jersey Mike?s Subs has signed up 650,000 members and seen key loyalty metrics improve.

The Shore Points Rewards program includes a mobile app for Android and iPhones, special offers delivered via text messaging as well as NFC stickers to simplify how members earn points. The mobile loyalty program is available at its 570 locations nationwide.

?Our mobile program was a huge leap forward for Jersey Mike's, which had been using a paper punch card format,? said Joe Poletto, managing partner at Indie Global, San Francisco.

?The key to the success of the program is that it's simple for Jersey Mike's to implement and simple for their customers to use,? he said. ?It's accessible to 100 percent of their customer base, regardless of whether they have smartphones.?

Indie Global is the parent company of SkyPop, San Francisco, whose mobile marketing platform is powering the Jersey Mike?s loyalty offering.

Local relevancy
Customers are made aware of the program via in-store promotions.

Those who are interested in joining can affix an NFC sticker on their phones, enabling them to tap the phone at the store to earn points on purchases, which can be redeemed for free food.

Using the Jersey Mike?s Shore Points Rewards Program mobile app, members can easily view and track their in-store purchase points and awards. Users can also earn bonus points, manage their member profile and receive exclusive specials from participating locations.

Customers receive a four digit registration code when they sign up to become a member, which is used to sync the membership account to the app.

The program also includes a customizable smartphone ad manager dashboard as well as cloud-based message and notification delivery. The platform enables Jersey Mike?s to monitor usage on a real time basis throughout all its stores and quickly adapt to local conditions with special offers.

Mobile boosts loyalty
Customers are embracing the mobile elements of the program, with 93 percent of members ? or more than 600,000 ? having opted in to receive text messages with special local offers.

Additionally, more than 40,000 members are using the branded Jersey Mike?s Shore Points Rewards mobile app.

Jersey Mike?s reports that the mobile program has also resulted in boost to its loyalty program traffic.

Historically, 7 percent of all customers have come in three times or more per months. Among those who have signed up for the Shore Points Rewards program, 11 percent have come into the stores three times or more per month.

Jersey Mike?s has been testing a ?Double Points Thursdays? program in regional stores, which

has generated double-to-triple the normal loyalty club traffic. The chain is planning to roll out the program nationally in the near future.

The chain will also be adding location-based services and targeted ad messages to the program.

Jersey Mike?s Subs is a fast-casual sub sandwich franchise that serves East Coast-style subs on fresh baked bread.

?The mobile program makes sense for so many reasons,? Mr. Poletto said.

?Most notably, it eliminates fraud and enables Jersey Mike's to learn more about their customers and deliver special offers to them,? he said. ?It's also low-cost and very simple to implement.?

Final Take
Chantal Tode is associate editor on Mobile Marketer, New York