Restaurant loyalty programs have become a meaningful part of the U.S. dining market. In 2024, 52% of U.S. adults said they participated in a restaurant, coffee-shop, snack-place, or deli loyalty or reward program. More recent research connects loyalty with off-premises ordering, mobile technology, value offers, and the feeling of being recognized by restaurant staff.
Contents
- Participation and market reach
- Operator adoption by restaurant segment
- Traffic and business outcomes
- How diners access loyalty programs
- Loyalty, convenience, and off-premises ordering
- Value, speed, and digital ordering
- Recognition and retention
Participation and market reach
The National Restaurant Association’s Restaurant Technology Landscape Report 2024 found that 52% of U.S. adults participated in a restaurant-related loyalty or reward program in 2024. Among current participants, 96% said membership was a good way to get more value for their money. These figures describe U.S. adults and the 2024 measurement period; they are not a forecast. (Restaurant Technology Landscape Report 2024)
The opportunity extends beyond people already enrolled. In 2024, 81% of U.S. consumers who were not enrolled said they would participate if their favorite restaurant offered a program. For restaurant marketers, that finding points to latent demand tied to a specific favorite business, rather than demand for loyalty programs in the abstract. (Get with the program: Building loyalty grows business)
Members commonly participate in more than one program. U.S. restaurant-loyalty members belonged to an average of 3.6 programs in 2024. The average was 4.4 programs among Gen Z members, 3.6 among millennials, 3.9 among Gen X members, and 3.0 among baby-boomer members. The averages indicate overlapping memberships, so a restaurant is competing for attention within a broader loyalty portfolio. (Get with the program: Building loyalty grows business)
Operator adoption by restaurant segment
In 2024 data used for the National Restaurant Association’s 2025 industry report, 52% of U.S. restaurant operators reported having a customer loyalty or rewards program. Adoption differed substantially by service segment.
| Restaurant segment | Operators with a program |
|---|---|
| All restaurant operators | 52% |
| Full-service | 38% |
| Limited-service | 66% |
| Family dining | 43% |
| Casual dining | 41% |
| Fine dining | 20% |
| Quick-service | 71% |
| Coffee and snack | 80% |
The highest reported adoption was among coffee-and-snack operators, at 80%, followed by quick-service operators at 71% and limited-service operators at 66%. Full-service adoption was 38%, while family-dining and casual-dining adoption was 43% and 41%, respectively. Fine-dining operators reported the lowest adoption in this comparison, at 20%. These are U.S. operator results measured in 2024. (State of the Restaurant Industry 2025)
Investment plans also varied by service model. In 2024, 61% of U.S. limited-service operators planned to invest in loyalty or rewards technology. The corresponding figure for full-service operators was 52%. The figures describe planned investment, not completed implementation. (Restaurant Technology Landscape Report 2024; Get with the program: Building loyalty grows business)
Traffic and business outcomes
Among U.S. restaurant operators that had a loyalty or rewards program, 70% said it helped boost customer traffic in 2024. Results were reported across every service segment in the supplied industry comparison.
| Restaurant segment | Operators saying loyalty helped boost traffic |
|---|---|
| All operators with a program | 70% |
| Full-service | 64% |
| Family dining | 69% |
| Casual dining | 76% |
| Fine dining | 80% |
| Limited-service | 76% |
| Quick-service | 75% |
| Coffee and snack | 78% |
The reported share was 64% among full-service operators, 69% among family-dining operators, and 76% among casual-dining operators. Fine-dining operators reported 80%, while limited-service operators reported 76%, quick-service operators 75%, and coffee-and-snack operators 78%. These percentages describe operators with existing programs; they do not establish that loyalty alone caused the traffic increase. (State of the Restaurant Industry 2025)
How diners access loyalty programs
Access preferences show why restaurants may need more than one enrollment and identification route. In 2024, 60% of current U.S. restaurant-loyalty members preferred using a smartphone app. Another 18% preferred presenting a physical card when ordering, while 22% had no preference between an app and a physical card. (Restaurant Technology Landscape Report 2024)
Prospective members showed a different balance. When given a choice in 2024, 39% preferred a physical card and 33% preferred a smartphone app. Among prospective baby-boomer members, 51% preferred a physical card. The contrast suggests that a digital-first experience can serve current members well while a card option may reduce friction for some people who have not yet joined. The findings are preference measures, not usage or conversion rates. (Restaurant Technology Landscape Report 2024)
Loyalty, convenience, and off-premises ordering
Loyalty is closely tied to where customers order, including when convenience is not the only consideration. In 2025 industry research, 78% of U.S. restaurant customers said they were more likely to visit a restaurant where they could earn points, even if it was less convenient. Nearly two-thirds of U.S. drive-thru, delivery, and takeout customers said loyalty-program membership was an important reason for choosing a restaurant. (3 steps to get customers emotionally invested in your brand)
The National Restaurant Association’s 2025 off-premises research reported that 65% of U.S. drive-thru users said loyalty-program membership affected where they ordered. More than 60% of takeout users and more than 60% of delivery users said the same. The research period is identified as 2025, and the “more than 60%” results are not converted into a more precise estimate. (From Trend to Transformation: Off-Premises Dining Now Essential for Restaurant Consumers, Operators)
Mobile ordering was also widespread in that 2025 research: 57% of U.S. adults had used mobile ordering recently, including restaurant ordering contexts. The share was 74% among millennials and 65% among Gen Z adults. (From Trend to Transformation: Off-Premises Dining Now Essential for Restaurant Consumers, Operators)
Value, speed, and digital ordering
Off-premises habits provide context for the rewards customers may value. In 2025, 47% of U.S. adults said they picked up takeout from a restaurant, coffee shop, snack place, or deli at least weekly. The corresponding shares were 42% for weekly restaurant drive-thru use and 37% for weekly restaurant delivery. (From Trend to Transformation: Off-Premises Dining Now Essential for Restaurant Consumers, Operators)
About 80% of U.S. delivery, takeout, and drive-thru customers said value deals resonated with them in 2025. At the same time, 94% of U.S. consumers said speed was critical for off-premises orders, and more than 90% cited customer service as a top priority. These results suggest that a reward has to fit an efficient ordering and service experience; the figures do not specify which reward structure performs best in every restaurant format. (From Trend to Transformation: Off-Premises Dining Now Essential for Restaurant Consumers, Operators)
Technology remains part of that experience. In 2025, 75% of U.S. delivery customers valued technology-enabled ordering and payments. Also, 90% of U.S. consumers said they would order a greater variety of restaurant items if delivery maintained on-premises food quality. The latter is a stated willingness measure, not a forecast of actual order growth. (From Trend to Transformation: Off-Premises Dining Now Essential for Restaurant Consumers, Operators)
Recognition and retention
Loyalty is not only a points mechanism. Toast’s published survey and platform analyses connect repeat behavior with personalization and recognition. In Toast’s survey conducted October 9–15, 2025, 20% of U.S. restaurant guests said they consistently received personalized experiences. In a Toast survey conducted April 2, 2026, 30% of U.S. adults who dined out or ordered in at least twice monthly said they always felt recognized at the restaurants they visited most. In that same 2026 survey, 48% said being remembered by restaurant staff made them feel most valued. (How Restaurants Can Make Guests Feel Like Regulars [New Survey Data])
Toast’s Q1 2026 regulars analysis found that 52% of diners identified food quality as the baseline requirement for loyalty, while 32% said feeling recognized by staff was a main reason they returned. Among diners who stopped visiting a favorite restaurant, 43% cited gradual regressions in quality, price, or service. More specifically, 31% cited declining food quality, 22% cited price increases, and 15% cited a drop in service. (7% of Guests Can Drive Up to 50% of Restaurant Order Volume: The Regulars Report 2026)
The same Toast analysis reported that guests in its loyalty ecosystem returned at roughly four times the rate of a standard walk-in cohort in Q1 2026. In a 90-day analysis covering January 13–April 13, 2026, members at restaurants with active loyalty programs were retained at roughly twice the rate of new customers and roughly 1.5 times the rate of the general guest base. These are internal, aggregated Toast platform analyses rather than nationally representative surveys, so they should not be generalized to every U.S. restaurant. (7% of Guests Can Drive Up to 50% of Restaurant Order Volume: The Regulars Report 2026)
Reward performance also differed by restaurant context in Toast’s Q1 2026 cohorts. Cashback rewards produced 24%–26% 90-day retention among more-casual restaurants such as pizzerias and cafes. In the fine-dining cohort, an item-based reward produced 20% retention versus 13% for cashback. These results are cohort-specific platform findings, not a universal benchmark or a nationally representative estimate. (7% of Guests Can Drive Up to 50% of Restaurant Order Volume: The Regulars Report 2026)
The survey and platform results should be read with their stated scope in mind. The National Restaurant Association figures refer to stated U.S. consumer or operator populations and specified measurement periods. Toast’s platform results are internal aggregated analyses, while its survey pages report percentages from their named survey periods. Together, the findings describe a market in which participation is broad, digital access is important, and repeat visits depend on both tangible value and reliable restaurant experiences.