Baja Fresh Rolls Out New Loyalty Program
Baja Fresh Mexican Grill is out with a new loyalty program that rewards customers with points to earn free food.
The Carta Baja Rewards programs gives frequent customers a chance to earn points toward food purchases at the Mexican restaurant. Under the program, members earn one point for every dollar spent at a participating Baja Fresh restaurant (or five cents off every dollar spent). Redemption begins at 100 points.
“We all know there are so many loyalty programs out there,” said Mark Chmiel, chief marketing strategist for Baja Fresh. “It’s a great vehicle to change behavior, to [incent] people. And it’s a nice media vehicle for us when we introduce a new product.”
The rewards program, which launched in December, is available at 25 restaurants in Arizona, Idaho and Nashville, TN. Baja Fresh has registered between 750 to 1,000 people to its loyalty program in the three test markets. About half of those registered are active users of the card, Chmiel said.
The Carta Baja card also doubles as a gift card. Consumers can load money onto the card and use it at participating Baja Fresh restaurants in lieu of cash. Separately, Baja Fresh launched its reloadable gift card in November 2003. The cards can be loaded with $10 up to $100.
The company plans to expand the loyalty program nationwide market by market; Las Vegas will be next to offer the program. The company’s goal is to expand the loyalty program to Baja Fresh’s more than 300 restaurants by the end of 2007, Chmiel said.
Eventually, Baja Fresh wants to turn the loyalty program into more of a consumer benefit loyalty program, Chmiel said. For example, the brand can use its member database to send consumers salsa recipes or offer special incentives—to give loyal customers added value.
“If your brand is big enough and offers things besides food, you offer a total experience,” Chmiel said.
Online materials and P-O-P support. Baja Fresh, Thousand Oaks, CA, is a part of Wendy’s International.
