Restaurant Loyalty Programs: Use Your POS to Reward Customers and Boost Sales this Holiday Season
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The holiday season is the most lucrative sprint of the year for the hospitality industry. But amidst the noise of Black Friday deals and New Year’s bashes, competition is fierce. To win the battle for the hungry holiday shopper, you need more than just a seasonal menu; you need a strategy that locks customers in.
This is where restaurant loyalty programs become your most powerful asset.
Also Read: Holiday Rush Survival Guide: 9 Simple Ways to Make More Money
While flash sales attract one-time bargain hunters, a well-structured holiday loyalty program builds a "value loop" that turns casual diners into lifelong regulars. But loyalty isn't just about handing out a punch card anymore. It’s about using data and smart incentives to drive behavior.
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Here are 7 proven strategies that you can use to crush your holiday sales targets using your POS.
1. Build and Maintain a "Live" Consumer List
You cannot market to a ghost. The biggest mistake restaurants make during the holiday rush is serving hundreds of guests without capturing their data. If they walk out the door anonymously, you have lost the chance to bring them back in January.
The Strategy: Use your POS to actively build a Consumer List. Every time a customer pays, ensure their name and contact details are logged in your CRM.
How OneHubPOS Helps: OneHubPOS makes this seamless at the checkout. You can quickly add a new customer profile or update an existing one in seconds.
Why it matters for the holidays: By maintaining an updated list, you can send targeted SMS or email blasts announcing your New Year’s Eve specials to people who actually dined with you in December.
2. Offer Spend-Based Milestone Rewards
During the holidays, customers are willing to spend more, but they need a nudge. "Spend-based rewards" are a form of gamification that encourages customers to increase their check size to unlock a higher tier of benefits.
The Strategy: Instead of a flat reward for every visit, set Spend Milestones. For example: "Reach $100 in total spending this month and unlock 500 Bonus Points."
How OneHubPOS Helps: Our system allows you to configure rules where points are awarded based on specific spending thresholds.
Why it matters for the holidays: This motivates the customer to add that extra appetizer or another round of drinks to hit the milestone before the holiday season ends.
3. Implement Straightforward Cashbacks
The holiday season is chaotic. Sometimes, customers don't want to calculate how many "stars" or "points" they need for a free burger. They want simplicity. Cashback is the most transparent form of reward and creates immediate value.
The Strategy: Configure a direct percentage cashback into the customer’s digital wallet. "Get 5% Cashback on every holiday dinner to use on your next visit."
How OneHubPOS Helps: OneHubPOS allows you to set up a "Cashback" loyalty structure where a percentage of the bill is returned to the customer's loyalty account as store credit.
Why it matters for the holidays: It feels like real money. A customer with $15 in "Store Credit" is almost guaranteed to return to spend it, whereas points might be ignored.
4. Automate Occasion-Based Rewards (Birthday Specials)
The holidays are a time for gathering, but they also coincide with many personal milestones. Ignoring a regular's birthday is a missed opportunity to create an emotional connection.
The Strategy: Set up Occasion-Based Rewards. If a customer visits during their birthday month (or anniversary), the system should automatically flag them for a special reward.
How OneHubPOS Helps: Within the customer profile in OneHubPOS, you can input birthdates and set up automated triggers.
Why it matters for the holidays: If a customer’s birthday falls in December, they are likely looking for a place to host a party. An automated email saying "Happy Birthday! Here is a free dessert for your party of 4" can secure a large table booking during a busy month.
5. Drive Traffic with Periodical Discounts
The holiday season isn't one continuous rush. There are often lulls, such as the first week of December or the quiet days immediately following Christmas. You need a way to drive traffic specifically during those windows without permanently lowering your prices.
The Strategy: Use Periodical Discounts to run date-specific campaigns. Create a "Pre-Holiday Blitz" or a "New Year's Warm-Up" where a discount is valid only between two specific dates (e.g., December 1st to December 10th).
How OneHubPOS Helps: OneHubPOS allows you to schedule discounts with a strict Start Date and End Date. You can configure a 15% discount that automatically activates on the 1st and deactivates at midnight on the 10th.
Why it matters for the holidays: This creates a sense of urgency (FOMO). Customers know they only have a short window to claim the deal, which drives traffic during weeks that might otherwise be slow.
6. Use Item-Based Discounts for Clearance
Holiday ingredients are seasonal. You don't want to be stuck with gallons of "Pumpkin Spice" syrup or "Peppermint Bark" inventory in mid-January. You need to move this stock while it’s still relevant.
The Strategy: Create Item-Based Discounts to clear inventory. Run an "End of Season" promo where specific seasonal items are discounted to encourage volume sales.
How OneHubPOS Helps: You can apply discounts to specific items or categories within OneHubPOS without discounting the entire check.
Why it matters for the holidays: It protects your margins. You clear out expiring inventory (turning it into cash) while keeping your core menu at full price.
7. The "Combo" Strategy: Bundling for Higher Checks
Finally, we cannot overlook the power of the Combos. This serves the dual purpose of increasing average ticket size while educating your customers on your full menu.
The Strategy: Create a "Holiday Feast Combo" (Entree + Side + Drink) and link it to your loyalty program. Offer double points for ordering the combo rather than individual items.
How OneHubPOS Helps: OneHubPOS features a robust Combo Management tool (Item groups). You can group items, set mandatory modifiers (e.g., "Must choose one drink"), and link inventory so stock is deducted correctly for every component.
Why it matters for the holidays: It simplifies the ordering process for stressed customers and speeds up your kitchen, all while driving a higher check average.
Conclusion
The holiday season is a sprint. To win, you need to offer more than just good food — you need to offer a compelling reason for customers to return.
By leveraging these 7 strategies — from maintaining a clean consumer list to offering smart, automated rewards — you can increase your ticket size and boost customer retention.
The best part? OneHubPOS comes with all these features built-in. You don't need expensive third-party marketing software to run a world-class loyalty program. You just need to switch on the features already at your fingertips.
Don't let the holiday rush manage you. Manage the rush with OneHubPOS.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Speed is key. With OneHubPOS, adding a customer to the Consumer List takes seconds. Train your staff to ask a simple question at checkout: "Are you part of our rewards program? I can add you right now so you get points for this meal." Most customers will say yes to "free points."
Points are usually converted into a reward later (e.g., 100 points = Free Burger). Cashback is immediate monetary value stored in their wallet (e.g., $5 credit). OneHubPOS supports both. For the holidays, Cashback is often more effective because it is easier for new customers to understand instantly.
Yes. Using the Periodical Discounts feature in OneHubPOS, you can program the discount to strictly apply, for example, only on Tuesdays and Wednesdays between 4 PM and 6 PM. The system will automatically revert to normal pricing outside these hours, preventing staff errors.
Once you have the birthdate in your OneHubPOS CRM, you can use integrations or manual exports to send an SMS or email. When the customer comes in to redeem it, the system will recognize their profile and apply the specific occasion-based reward you configured.
Total bill discounts (e.g., "20% off everything") can be dangerous for your profitability because they discount low-margin items like alcohol or steak. Product-Based Discounts allow you to surgically discount only high-margin items or stock you need to clear (like seasonal desserts), ensuring you maintain overall profitability.
Rajat is a growth marketing professional with a passion for creating content that drives engagement and measurable results. He specializes in turning insights into clear, actionable stories that help brands scale.
