Sweetgreen is hoping to alleviate some of the pain of paying for its expensive salads with a new discount program.
Beginning Monday, the salad chain is selling a subscription-like offering called Sweetpass that gives customers as much as 30% off each purchase. With a $10 subscription, a customer will get $3 off every $9.95 purchase (or more) on one order per day that’s completed on its app or website.
“It’s an optimal time of year because of new year’s resolutions and the food that Sweetgreen sells,” Daniel Shlossman, Sweetgreen’s (SG) senior vice president of digital and growth, told CNN Business.
A Sweetpass can be purchased from Monday until January 16 and are valid from 30 days after the initial purchase. The discount can’t be applied on third-party apps, like UberEats or DoorDash, but can be used at all of its 140 US locations.
Sweetgreen scrapped its loyalty program in 2020, which previously gave customers $9 off when their total spend amounted to $99. The new program is “part of a broader evolution of loyalty and what that means for Sweetgreen,” Shlossman said.
Between a slumping stock price (shares are down 40% since its November debut) and an uncertain future of when workers head back to the office as Omicron spreads, the chain hopes Sweetpass attracts new customers or makes it prices more affordable for its fervent fans.
“Our ultimate goal is that we really want to make whatever loyalty is at Sweetgreen much more personalized to the individualized customer,” he said. It’s been recently experimenting with targeted offers to customers that have an account with them, such as free delivery or discounts.
Digital ordering has skyrocketed during the pandemic, even for Sweetgreen despite its restaurants being located near office buildings that have emptied out as people work from home.
Nearly 50% of its sales through the third quarter of 2021 came through its own digital channels, including app, website or people ordering in-person and using the “scan to pay” option. They also spend about 20% more compared to non-digital orders.
