Best Practices

How Food Trucks Can Leverage Memberships & Subscriptions to Boost Business

Staying ahead of the competition requires more than just great food and excellent service. One powerful strategy that food trucks can adopt is the implementation of memberships and subscription models. These programs not only foster customer loyalty but also create a steady revenue stream, which is particularly valuable in an industry known for its fluctuating sales.

The Power of Memberships and Subscriptions

Memberships and subscriptions have become increasingly popular across various industries, from streaming services to gyms, and the food industry is no exception. For food truck owners, these models offer several unique advantages:

Consistent Revenue Stream:
Memberships and subscriptions can provide a reliable income even during off-peak times. Customers pay a recurring fee for exclusive benefits, ensuring a steady cash flow.
Increased Customer Loyalty:
These programs reward your most loyal customers with special perks, encouraging them to visit more frequently. This not only boosts your sales but also strengthens your relationship with your customer base.
Enhanced Customer Experience:
By offering exclusive deals, early access to new menu items, or members-only events, you create a unique and personalized experience that enhances customer satisfaction and retention.

How to Implement Memberships and Subscriptions

1. Designing Your Membership Program

Start by defining what your membership program will offer. Consider the following:

Exclusive Discounts: Offer members discounts on their favorite menu items or combo deals that aren't available to regular customers.
Priority Service: Allow members to skip the line during busy hours or pre-order meals for a faster pickup.
Special Events: Host members-only events, such as tastings of new menu items or cooking demonstrations.
Loyalty Points: Implement a points system where members earn rewards for each purchase, redeemable for free items or discounts.

2. Subscription-Based Meal Plans

If your menu includes items that customers regularly crave, consider offering a subscription-based meal plan. For example:

Weekly Meal Plans: Subscribers receive a set number of meals each week at a discounted rate.
Seasonal Subscriptions: Offer seasonal menus that subscribers can enjoy throughout the year, featuring exclusive items tied to the season.

3. Leveraging Technology

Advanced Food Truck point-of-sale (POS) systems like GoTab can seamlessly integrate membership and subscription functionalities into your operations:

Full Subscription and Renewal Functionality: GoTab allows you to enroll guests into membership programs with automatic renewals, making it easy for both you and your customers to manage subscriptions.
Seamless Integration with Ordering & Payments: Membership benefits, discounts, and rewards are automatically applied at checkout, ensuring a smooth experience for your customers.
Data-Driven Insights: Use the data gathered from your membership and subscription programs to understand customer preferences, tailor your offerings, and run targeted marketing campaigns.

Driving Hi-Value Visits

Membership and subscription programs are not just about rewards—they're also powerful tools for driving high-value visits. By integrating email marketing and direct messaging into your strategy, you can:

Promote Limited-Time Offers: Notify your members about special deals or menu items available only for a short time, creating a sense of urgency.
Exclusive Events: Use your membership program to invite your most loyal customers to exclusive events, such as food tastings or pop-up locations.
Personalized Marketing: Send tailored offers based on a customer’s past purchases, ensuring they receive the promotions most relevant to them.

Flawless Execution with GoTab

Implementing these strategies might sound complex, but with the right technology, it can be seamless. GoTab’s hospitality commerce platform fully integrates membership and subscription functionalities, allowing you to execute these programs flawlessly. Whether it’s processing payments, managing renewals, or applying discounts, GoTab ensures that both your staff and customers enjoy a hassle-free experience.

Incorporating memberships and subscriptions into your food truck business can significantly boost customer loyalty, drive more frequent visits, and create a stable revenue stream. With the help of advanced technology like GoTab, you can implement these programs smoothly, providing added value to your customers while enhancing your bottom line. As the food truck industry continues to evolve, embracing these innovative strategies will help you stay ahead of the curve and build a loyal customer base that keeps coming back for more.

‍

Request a demo today to learn more about our features for food trucks

‍

Tap Room Playbook: Check Your Experience

Tap Room Playbook Episode 2:

When you really think about it, with everything managers need to do in a tap room, the hospitality aspect is often overlooked.

Watch Now →

Tap Room Playbook Episode 3:

The best breweries pay attention to what their brand stands for. How do the best brewers bring their brand to life?

Watch Now →

Situated “in the heart of it all, yet tranquil enough to make you feel away from it all too,” The Limelight Hotel Snowmass offers 99 hotel rooms and 11 residences, as well as footsteps-to-gondola access in winter and summer — right in the middle of Snowmass Base Village.

The Situation

Especially over the last few years, the Limelight Hotels IT team had witnessed a significant shift to contactless technology in the hospitality industry. After evaluating friction points in the guest journey, aligning with modern technology platforms in their restaurant was determined to be an effective way to offer elevated contactless dining experiences to their guests while also evolving their technology platforms to continue to support long-term company goals. Limelight Hotel partnered with GoTab to provide an enhanced on-demand dining experience on par with the brand’s reputation for exceptional guest service.

The Solution

Reducing Staff Touch Points Without Sacrificing Guest Experience

Guests are now able to begin a tab from their room or the property’s restaurant by scanning a QR code, texting a link to friends or family members on the ski slope to add in their orders, then meeting up together at the patio or lodge to enjoy their meal and après ski festivities without interruption. By streamlining tasks like inputting orders and processing payments, this eliminates friction for hotel staff and allows them to focus on delivering renowned guest service for a memorable experience. Since partnering with GoTab, Limelight Snowmass has consistently seen higher check averages and sales.

“We found the Point of Sale platforms we were looking at offered the guest and staff limited opportunities to further reduce touch points or improve the traditional restaurant experience. The GoTab platform enabled the guest to take an active role over the flow of their experience while simultaneously reducing touch points and further streamlining restaurant operations.”Nick Giglio, Manager of Hotel IT Operations, The Little Nell Hotel Group

According to the Limelight Hotels team, some of the other platforms that were evaluated were either missing some of the pieces they were looking for, had weak customer support models, or had little willingness to develop integrations to existing hotel platforms already in place. To that end, GoTab integrated with cloud-based platform, Infor. Together, GoTab and Infor are providing dynamic solutions to support central, efficient service across hotel amenities and deliver exceptional guest experiences.

“Previously, guests would call down to the restaurant to begin an order from their room or while they were out enjoying the ski slopes. Using GoTab, guests can now place orders from anywhere on the resort, giving them the on-demand service they want without interrupting their day. GoTab empowers us to give control to the guest, reducing touch points and streamlining overall restaurant operations, making Limelight Hotel the resort of choice for Snowmass.”Nick Giglio, Manager of Hotel IT Operations, The Little Nell Hotel Group

Since introducing GoTab, The Limelight Hotel has seen a consistent level of upsells and items sold per check resulting in additional revenue capture. They have been able to maintain service levels in their restaurants during periods when there was reduced staffing available without significantly diminishing the guest experience.

The Benefits

Eliminate Phone Orders – Take Orders from the Slopes. Guests can start a tab from their room or on the mountain without interrupting the flow of their day.

Future-Proofed Technologies – Delivering elevated contactless ordering via integration with the Infor hotel management platform.

Eliminating Friction in the Guest Journey – Maintaining service levels during periods of reduced staff without diminishing the guest experience.

Eliminating Friction in the Guest Journey – Maintaining service levels during periods of reduced staff without diminishing the guest experience.
Eliminating Friction in the Guest Journey – Maintaining service levels during periods of reduced staff without diminishing the guest experience.
Eliminating Friction in the Guest Journey – Maintaining service levels during periods of reduced staff without diminishing the guest experience.
Eliminating Friction in the Guest Journey – Maintaining service levels during periods of reduced staff without diminishing the guest experience.

View All Latest Posts →

Request a Demo

Ready to experience GoTab for yourself? Sign up for a free demo and get qualified to receive a complimentary meal on us!

Request a Demo