For fast food and casual-dining brands looking to stay ahead of the curve, it’s time to explore how the metaverse fits into their customer engagement strategy. The earliest adopters are already using metaverse activations as a tool to increase digital engagement, and many have filed a flurry of trademarks to protect their name and other assets in the emerging virtual universe. A metaverse presence and continued ownership and control of a brand is crucial to the future of restaurants in an increasingly digital world.
This comes even as none of us can eat in the metaverse—at least not yet—and as only 38 percent of Americans say they are familiar with the metaverse. Despite the lack of clarity (and cloud of hype) around the metaverse, there is growing confidence that the steps brands take there today will be key for survival.
Brands should consider the metaverse as a way to further develop loyalty programs, which today are mostly transactional and focused on discounts. While some brands, like Starbucks, have had loyalty programs for years, a growing number of brands, including McDonalds, Popeyes, and Taco Bell, have recently launched or revamped their programs. Loyalty programs drive business while creating more data, which is key to reaching additional customers and making smart business decisions. Data garnered from loyalty programs is valuable because it does not rely on third parties, which is becoming a less stable avenue for collecting data as privacy and other ethical concerns grow.
At the same time, loyalty programs are challenging because brands realize that they can’t give endless discounts or items for free; this will eat away at margins and won’t necessarily build true loyalty with customers. While there’s still no clear winning model for a non-transactional loyalty program in the restaurant category, companies should be considering engagement in the metaverse as an avenue to build unique customer relationships and real loyalty.
