Latest / Leaders in Customer Loyalty, Powered by Loyalty360 / #402: Piada Italian Street Food Upgrades Customer Experience with Revamped Loyalty Program and Digital Ordering

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#402: Piada Italian Street Food Upgrades Customer Experience with Revamped Loyalty Program and Digital Ordering · Leaders in Customer Loyalty, Powered by Loyalty360

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Good morning, good afternoon and welcome to another episode of the Loyalty360 Leaders and Customer Loyalty Series.
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: I'm Ryan Massey, director of Client Relations at Loyalty360.
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: Today we have the pleasure of speaking with Jason Proffitt, vice President of Technology at Piata, italian Street Food.
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: Jason is an experienced tech professional in software development.
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: He'll be sharing how he utilizes his technological background to support the digital guest experience of Piata's loyalty program, focusing on personalization, connection and accessibility.
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: We're excited to hear about how Piata's loyalty program accomplishes this and we're honored to have Jason with us today.
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: Thanks for taking the time to talk to us, Jason.
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: Thank you for having me.
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: It's a pleasure to be on here and looking forward to speaking with you.
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: Can you give us a short introduction to Piata Italian Street Food and tell us about your role with the company and your experience in customer loyalty?
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so Piata started in 2010, focusing on tossed pastas, chopped salads and our namesake, the Piata, which is a hand-rolled flat dough based off of the Piadina, which is a flat dough sandwich.
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: We take the toppings and the ingredients and roll them up and have them ready to go.
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: Roll them up and have them ready to go.
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: We're right now we're in 57 stores, seven states, just about to open number 58 here in about a month, I believe, and myself I've been with Piata for seven years now and my background is actually in software development, so moving into the restaurant space was a bit of a change, but you know, but it's actually been a wonderful and exciting adventure here.
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: I can't imagine myself being anywhere else, and out here I'm responsible for digital ordering, point of sale, third-party integrations and the custom software development myself and my team, and so my experience in the loyalty space really comes to.
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: I deal with that guest who wants to use us in a digital capacity.
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: I deal with them all the time.
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: It's really it's been just a great experience.
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: I mean, it's challenging my expectations when it comes to how I think folks are going to behave.
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: Then you look at what is going on in reality.
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: It's been great over these seven years that I've been with PIATA and I've been working with our loyalty program in some capacity throughout the entirety of my career out here, so it's been just a really great experience.
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: That's terrific.
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: Now recently, PIATA announced it'll be launching a new loyalty program.
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: Can you tell us more about the program, how it works and the benefits for members?
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: Absolutely so.
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: This new program.
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: We've been doing loyalty for about seven years now and kind of dabbled in it before, but really rolled out our first iteration or true iteration of our Piatta Wards program about seven years ago and that really put us up towards the front of when a lot of restaurant brands were doing loyalty.
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: We were very excited and it had a very good run.
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: We had a lot of success with it.
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: As the consumer dynamics shifted, trends shifted and, along with the expectations, what we did was take those learnings and adapt, make changes as needed to our existing program, enhancements, their infrastructure, allowing us to build on top of it, to create that loyalty program that we really thought was the best that we could do for our guests and what they were telling us that they were looking to have in a loyalty program, and just make what we had all that better.
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: And what that means is what we did was we shifted from what was effectively a frequency program into a points-based program and on top of that we added in new rewards that folks could choose.
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: The old program you had a standard $5 reward, which was great.
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: We gave that to folks at a pretty regular cadence to what their frequency of their visits would be.
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: And with this what we did is expand on what folks could choose from, what that guest could have at their fingertips.
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: Basically, we have a pool of rewards.
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: Now it's not just that one reward.
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: You don't get a choice.
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: Now you've got a choice.
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: You can be that guest who you want to get that reward quick.
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: You want to have the rewards sooner, so you can have the lower points rewards.
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: Or, if you're the individual who wants to bank up those points, get that bigger reward.
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: Well, now you can do that.
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: You can save it up and get to a free entree.
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: But we're really excited to be launching that.
• 4:57
  Speaker 2: We've seen some early successes with it already and some great engagement.
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: So we're super excited about the future of the new rewards program.
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: That's terrific.
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: Now, how did guest feedback influence the changes made to Piata's loyalty program, especially in terms of earning points and reward redemption flexibility?
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: Great question because we did get feedback on this.
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: Initially it was people really enjoyed our program and they did clear throughout the entire engagement with our prior loyalty provider.
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: But what we heard and what we were reading in the various industry trends was that people for one, they want the choice.
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: This is personalization.
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: Right, folks want personalization.
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: They don't want to feel like it's just a one size fits all.
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: So we had to lean into that.
• 5:48
  Speaker 2: And then, on top of that, we started getting some feedback.
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: Initially it was the frequency was great, the frequency program was great.
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: But you know, we started hearing from people.
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: It's like well, you know, why does my one visit where I spend twice as much as somebody else, why am I not getting that benefit from it?
• 6:08
  Speaker 2: You know you're disenfranchising me from your loyalty program by not taking care of me as one of your high spenders.
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: You know I should be one of your VIPs, not the person who gets the cheapest entree on the menu.
• 6:19
  Speaker 2: Like you know, they don't want to feel the same.
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: And again, it's that personalization.
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: I don't want to feel the same and again it's that personalization.
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: I don't want to be just that one fish in the big pond and we are all the same.
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: Everybody wants to feel like you understand them and you're tailoring the program to them, and so that was.
• 6:35
  Speaker 2: That was really what we heard from the feedback, and that was at the heart of what shifted from the old program to the new, shifted from the old program to the new.
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: At this year's Loyalty 360 Loyalty Expo, there's a lot of discussion about training both internal and external stakeholders on the value of customer loyalty programs and how they can empower organizations that prioritize them.
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: However, there's a struggle to keep teams updated on the evolving landscape of customer loyalty, with technology and metrics becoming more complex.
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: How does Piatta handle these challenges?
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: How do you believe your rewards program and guest engagement initiatives will adapt to changes in an increasingly competitive marketplace as customers evolve?
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: So, first off, like we've been talking about, you have to listen to the guest.
• 7:26
  Speaker 2: You have to understand what their needs are and sometimes it's honestly, it's not even what they're telling you.
• 7:32
  Speaker 2: It's what they mean.
• 7:33
  Speaker 2: It's the why behind it.
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: Why are they saying that they might want this versus that?
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: It's not always taking it at face value, but one of our primary strengths here at Piata is that we control our infrastructure to a high degree.
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: So we have all of the pieces in place, the data captured, to understand our guest behavior and not only taking that in and looking at it just from okay, what's our sales data, what's our menu mix?
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: But we have that information in place so we can deliver that personalized experience and whatever that ends up meaning now versus what that means in the future.
• 8:10
  Speaker 2: I don't think personalization is going away.
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: That's here now.
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: People want that.
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: So we have to capture that data now, keep it somewhere that we can leverage it in the future.
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: And that's really where I think that what we have in place now is the response to the current demands of the consumer.
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: But if that shifts, if that changes, well, we know how to respond to that and we can alter what we have in place to accommodate it.
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: And that's what I think is just so important is to really take what you can now with the idea that you might need something in the future.
• 8:48
  Speaker 2: So don't discard it, but make sure that you're leveraging it, what you have at your disposal now and keep up with what might be happening down the road.
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: Make sure you can respond to that what?
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: might be happening down the road.
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: Make sure you can respond to that.
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: Very true, the loyalty program is part of Piata's overall digital strategy, which also includes online ordering and digital gift cards.
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: Can you tell us more about Piata's approach to developing a true omnichannel experience to encourage guest engagement?
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: You know, at the end of the day, to channel experience to encourage guest engagement.
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: You know, at the end of the day, the guest doesn't care how many vendors you have, right?
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: They don't care if your point of sale is through company X and your online ordering is through company Y.
• 9:31
  Speaker 2: All they really care about is is this a frictionless experience?
• 9:35
  Speaker 2: And that's what Piata One is.
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: You have one login, you're interacting with three or four of our vendors, but you don't know it.
• 9:44
  Speaker 2: And we recently swapped out, as I mentioned, our loyalty vendor and, other than seeing the program itself change, the guests saw okay, well, now I get to pick from rewards.
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: They had no idea that we switched to a new vendor because everything was in the Piatto One environment and not the Piatto One and our prior loyalty provider.
• 10:04
  Speaker 2: And now it's the Piatto One Sparkfly loyalty.
• 10:07
  Speaker 2: It's not, it's the Piatto One environment and that's what we're really after for our entire digital offering the app, the website, gift cards, online ordering your loyalty it's all tied to your one account and that's really what our power is behind.
• 10:21
  Speaker 2: Piata One is that.
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: It's just.
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: It's so much easier for that guest than having to go to some third party to purchase online gift cards while you're using this other one for loyalty.
• 10:31
  Speaker 2: And, by the way, make sure you put in your loyalty ID at checkout if you want to get your points.
• 10:36
  Speaker 2: It's all one seamless environment.
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: Nice, you mentioned personalization before.
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: Personalization seems to be a key focus of the new loyalty program.
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: What are some of the personalized incentives Piata plans to offer across different loyalty tiers?
• 10:55
  Speaker 2: So what we have are the bank of rewards, right, the pool of rewards.
• 10:58
  Speaker 2: You can be that guest who wants to get that quick reward.
• 11:01
  Speaker 2: You can save them up for later and as you move through our tiers, you get an additional set of rewards at your disposal.
• 11:08
  Speaker 2: So you know, you might be that person who is ordering with us more often with a lower check.
• 11:14
  Speaker 2: You like getting those rewards quick.
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: Well, once you reach the next tier, now you have some additional rewards you can pick from.
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: Or, if you're the person again who wants to save it up, get the big ones.
• 11:25
  Speaker 2: Now you're going to have other ones you can choose from.
• 11:28
  Speaker 2: And then we're going to be offering into our tiers other fun things, like Piata swag items that are exclusives to our rewards program.
• 11:37
  Speaker 2: This isn't something that you can buy.
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: This isn't something that we would just be handing out our rewards program.
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: This isn't something that you can buy.
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: This isn't something that we would just be handing out.
• 11:42
  Speaker 2: So you know there's a level of prestige to that guest who's a brand advocate to be saying yes, you know, I'm an expert in Piazza one, and here's the swag to prove it.
• 11:51
  Speaker 2: So that's where the fun comes in as well.
• 11:53
  Speaker 2: On it, it's not just about getting the, the food discounts, it is also let people, if they want to be that brand, advocate, they want to show off the love for Piata.
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: We want to help them do that.
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you got to get the gold chains and the big medallion.
• 12:10
  Speaker 2: Oh, absolutely.
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: So how does the new points-based system incentivize customers to progress through the program's tiers and how do you see change impacting customer behavior and loyalty?
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: So the tiers give us a way to gamify the system.
• 12:29
  Speaker 2: I mean, you know, when you're just that close to hitting that next mark, you've got that own personal incentive to go ahead and just get to that next level.
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: It's not just about us pushing anything on you.
• 12:40
  Speaker 2: You have that own triggers like oh man, look how close I am, that's only one order away.
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: I'll hit that on my next lunch.
• 12:47
  Speaker 2: So you get that little bit of an intrinsic challenge and gamification to it.
• 12:52
  Speaker 2: And with those, that gives us the extra touch point where we can say, hey, you know you are about to lose your blank status.
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: You know you're, you're up in this tier, but hey, if you don't order with us this month, you're going to lose it.
• 13:10
  Speaker 2: That's not a discount, which is which is, I think, a great thing to call out.
• 13:14
  Speaker 2: Here.
• 13:14
  Speaker 2: We have touch points that aren't discounts.
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: Not everything needs to be a discount to feel like you're valued.
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: It's about, again, that personalization.
• 13:24
  Speaker 2: This is you saying hey, you recognize that this is me, you're trying to help me by saying do this so you can maintain your status.
• 13:31
  Speaker 2: Or whenever you do reach the next tier, you just you get an email congratulating you on it.
• 13:36
  Speaker 2: It's again, it's that touch point.
• 13:38
  Speaker 2: It makes you feel like the brand is connected with you, and that's what we want to do.
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: We want people to have an emotional attachment with us, as crazy as it sounds.
• 13:47
  Speaker 2: We want people to feel emotion and be in a good emotion whenever they're thinking about Piata and their experience with this, and the tiers are a way that we do that, by just adding in that gamification and touch points.
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: Terrific.
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: Now, as Piata continues to expand into new markets, how will the updated loyalty program play a role in maintaining a strong connection with your loyalty patrons?
• 14:12
  Speaker 2: So one thing that we've seen in any of our new stores and our new markets we have a high adoption rate of our digital ordering.
• 14:18
  Speaker 2: People want to.
• 14:21
  Speaker 2: They see this as a just a comfortable way to interact with us.
• 14:25
  Speaker 2: You know, maybe you have that anxious individual who's like well, I'm not really sure what I would want at a Piata.
• 14:30
  Speaker 2: We don't want anybody to come in and feel like they aren't prepared to order with us.
• 14:36
  Speaker 2: If they come in the store, our team is going to help them through that.
• 14:39
  Speaker 2: But some folks want that in the comfort of their own home office or so that they could take it at their leisure, at their own pace.
• 14:46
  Speaker 2: So we see a lot of folks using it just for the fact that they can spend time, peruse the menu, build that perfect meal place.
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: You order and come pick it up and then maybe at that point they come in and they order with us through the line, or they just really like the experience of using online ordering, so they just stick with that.
• 15:06
  Speaker 2: We're happy to have them using us whatever way that they like.
• 15:09
  Speaker 2: We're all about just getting good food into bellies.
• 15:12
  Speaker 2: So whatever way they want to use us, ultimately we're happy to accommodate.
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: But using the online ordering, using the apps.
• 15:22
  Speaker 2: This is our way of just being accessible and really that's what this all comes.
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: We want to have Piata available and accessible to our guests.
• 15:30
  Speaker 2: We want to meet them wherever they want to be met.
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: That's with picking it up in store through our grab and go shelves, or if it's curbside pickup or delivery.
• 15:41
  Speaker 2: We want the guests to feel like we are accommodating them to how they want to interact with us.
• 15:47
  Speaker 2: That's very important for a new store opening and a new market.
• 15:52
  Speaker 2: It lets everybody feel like they have a way that they could try Piatta without feeling any pressure, with just getting the food.
• 16:01
  Speaker 2: That the way that they would like to get it hmm, yeah, that's huge.
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: That's very important.
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: How do you envision loyalty programs evolving across the fast casual industry and what trends do you think will be important as loyalty programs continue to evolve, possibly with features such as exclusive challenges or gamification elements?
• 16:27
  Speaker 2: Well, I'm going to come back to again that personalization.
• 16:30
  Speaker 2: That's just, that's not going anywhere.
• 16:32
  Speaker 2: Everybody wants to know that you aren't just lumping them into one overall group.
• 16:39
  Speaker 2: It's again, it's not the one size fits all.
• 16:41
  Speaker 2: You really are tailoring the experience to them and some of that is going to be.
• 16:48
  Speaker 2: We haven't released this yet, but we are going to update an upcoming update badges and challenges.
• 16:54
  Speaker 2: So that's another way.
• 16:56
  Speaker 2: I mentioned not relying on discounts.
• 16:57
  Speaker 2: There aren't intrinsically tied to a discount with badges and challenges.
• 17:02
  Speaker 2: It's just a way to get a digital sticker, a digital badge, your trophy case, whatever that might be.
• 17:10
  Speaker 2: Hey, try X, y and Z and you get this badge.
• 17:13
  Speaker 2: And so now you've got that.
• 17:15
  Speaker 2: Other folks are doing it and I've seen other brands are doing it and they've seen success with it.
• 17:19
  Speaker 2: And we're really excited because our new partner, sparkfly.
• 17:23
  Speaker 2: They've given us that platform to let us make the program the way that we want to make it and not feel like we're handcuffed to a certain model because of the technology that we have to build upon.
• 17:39
  Speaker 2: They've been working with us to expand their own platform, even support some of the initiatives that we want to take on.
• 17:46
  Speaker 2: So this has been great for us because it really lets us just create that Piazza 1 and the Piazzaada rewards that we want, that piada wants and that we can tell that our guest wants by feedback or by monitoring their behavior when it comes to sales data, menu mix and whatnot.
• 18:03
  Speaker 2: And from a marketing end it's also helpful there.
• 18:08
  Speaker 2: Badges challenges, marketing end it's also helpful there.
• 18:10
  Speaker 2: Badges challenges.
• 18:11
  Speaker 2: You can focus on an lto or you can maybe we have a hidden gem in our menu that folks may not know about.
• 18:18
  Speaker 2: This is a good way for us to say we'd like you to try our calamari.
• 18:23
  Speaker 2: It's fantastic and it is.
• 18:24
  Speaker 2: Our calamari is very good, but it's kind of one.
• 18:29
  Speaker 2: It's one of those hidden gems that not everybody knows that we offer it's because it's a protein that's, uh, cooked on on a demand, so it's not upfront with our like our steak and our chicken are high moving proteins, so somebody might not even know we have it, but my goodness, it's so good.
• 18:47
  Speaker 2: And we've done this before, we've.
• 18:48
  Speaker 2: We've pushed out some marketing.
• 18:49
  Speaker 2: Or go try our calamari.
• 18:51
  Speaker 2: I just and this would be now go try a calamari and you get a badge for it.
• 18:56
  Speaker 2: It sounds silly, but I can tell you that I am personally motivated by silly things like that too.
• 19:02
  Speaker 2: So it it's a one where we can help motivate folks, we can help guide behavior in a way that again doesn't come back to a discount and I think that's really important to call out is you can offer a discount for an item or you can do something like this where you can still get that same behavior without having it hit your bottom line.
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: Awesome.
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: So what can Loyalty360 do to help you and piatto with your customer loyalty efforts?
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: What resources do you?
• 19:37
  Speaker 2: seek like data.
• 19:39
  Speaker 2: I love data.
• 19:40
  Speaker 2: We all, all of us out here anything that would come to trends, behavior predictions or or just here's what we're hearing in the industry or from the guests or from the trades.
• 19:56
  Speaker 2: I think that's a really, really valuable part of working in this industry is a lot of brands do seem very willing to share information.
• 20:07
  Speaker 2: It's not just oh, this is a closely held secret to share information.
• 20:10
  Speaker 2: It's not just oh, this is a closely held secret.
• 20:13
  Speaker 2: People are willing to, and, through organizations such as yourself, collecting other brands and having that association, you've got a lot of insightful information that, I think, is just I mean, it's invaluable to have that's the best I can say that the underlying data to understand and what you're hearing.
• 20:33
  Speaker 2: That is just so valuable.
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: Terrific?
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: Yes, definitely, the sanctity of data is something that's huge for us, and we're happy to partner with our brands and help you do just that.
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: All right, so, as promised, our quick fire round.
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: So what word or short phrase do you use to inspire others?
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: I trust you.
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: What is your least favorite word that others use?
• 21:03
  Speaker 2: Please advise what excites you at work being able to explore what's possible and not being confined to any box.
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: What do you find tiresome at home?
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: Or?
• 21:15
  Speaker 2: work, laundry and then ironing the laundry.
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: What is your favorite menu item at Piata the avocado Piata?
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: What book do you like to recommend to your colleagues?
• 21:25
  Speaker 2: Definitely Dale Carnegie's how to Win Friends and Influence People.
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: What profession other than your own would you like to attempt A professional?
• 21:33
  Speaker 2: ultramarathon runner.
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: What do you enjoy doing that you don't get to do often?
• 21:37
  Speaker 2: Sitting on my front porch in the sun drinking a cup of coffee and reading a book who inspired you to become the person you are today, that'd be my parents, and how do you want to be remembered by your friends and family?
• 21:48
  Speaker 2: As someone who genuinely enriched their lives Awesome.
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: Well, that's great, perfect.
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: Jason, I want to thank you very much for taking the time to speak with us today.
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: We appreciate it and look forward to hearing more in 2024 and into the new year.
• 22:10
  Speaker 2: Really appreciate the time spent here.
• 22:12
  Speaker 2: Thank you so much for having me.
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: Well, thank you to everyone else for listening and make sure to check back for additional episodes of our Leaders in Customer Loyalty series.