Dive Brief:
- Regal has launched a paid loyalty program, Regal Rewards+, that offers one free movie ticket per month and four discounted tickets per month that can be used on friends or family, the movie theater chain announced Tuesday.
- Unused free tickets roll over to the following months with no expiration date. Regal Rewards+ includes a 20% discount on food and non-alcoholic beverages and waived convenience fees on eligible purchases.
- Regal Rewards+ also offers customers 100 points per $1 spent on tickets, merchandise and non-alcoholic concessions. Points can be redeemed to enter sweepstakes, earn merchandise or purchase concessions.
Dive Insight:
Regal Rewards+ is the movie theater chain’s third loyalty option, serving as a middle point between the free Regal Rewards program and the more expensive Regal Unlimited subscription.
Paid and free loyalty programs each have their place, according to Halle Stern, director analyst in Gartner’s marketing practice. Paid programs attract customers who can take advantage of the potentially greater cost savings, while free programs get people in the door and help brands measure the holistic experience.
“It's not that one approach is better than the other, it just depends on the objective that the brand is looking to achieve and the value proposition for their target customers,” Stern said in an email.
Regal Rewards+ was designed to provide flexibility, according to Regal. The program, which starts at $10.99 per month, carries all the benefits of the free Regal Rewards in addition to the free tickets and discounts.
The more expensive Regal Unlimited lets customers see an unlimited number of movies and offers 200 loyalty points per dollar spent. However, a Regal Unlimited subscription starts at $25.99 per month and offers a smaller 10% discount on concessions.
The unique benefits of Regal Rewards+ may help it stand out from competitors’ loyalty programs as well.
Having a monthly benefit can create a “fear of missing out” factor that drives business even if the tickets don’t expire, according to Stern. In general, timed rewards can help encourage customers to visit a business more frequently.
“People don't want to miss out on something that they are paying for,” Stern said in an email. “This drives more urgency for customers to pay more frequent visits to brands that are sometimes seen as a ‘nice to have,’ especially in this economy.”
Discounts for friends are not something usually found in loyalty programs across any industry, and their presence can help drive word of mouth, Stern said. “Plus, the more people you get in the theater, the more they spend on concessions for the brand.”
