Casey’s Rewards, the digital loyalty program used by 6 million consumers at Casey’s General Store locations, has earned the convenience-store chain kudos.
ParTech Inc., which provides the Punchh loyalty platform Casey’s uses to track purchases and reward consumers, named Casey’s its 2022 C-Store Champion. ParTech selected the winners from a customer base of 250 global brands and considered metrics, such as innovative usage, strategic results and platform adoption, said Brittany Maroney, head of marketing at ParTech Inc.
Casey’s Rewards allows members to redeem points for fuel discounts, cash and donations to a local school. “Most members are still redeeming for Casey’s Cash, but fuel discounts continue to be a critical way to lower the price at the fuel pump in the midst of this inflationary environment,” said Mike Templeton, director of digital guest experience at Casey’s.
Casey's achieved 43 million redemptions in 2022, ParTech said. It provided donations to 71,000 local schools at the request of rewards members, ParTech said.
In the ParTech contest, Maroney said, “Casey’s rose to the top as a winner based on their hyper-personalized marketing tactics and fully integrated marketing strategies.” She described Casey’s Rewards as one of the fastest-growing acquirers of new members among Punchh’s brands.
Casey’s Rewards program allows members to use their phone number to earn points on every order in the store and at the pump. Gamification strategies and sweepstakes engage members and contribute to a high frequency rate, Maroney said.
Innovation is important to Casey’s program. “The program also won, because of their diverse reward system, outside typical discounting. The app gives guests access to special offers and discounts on the things they buy every day,” Maroney said.
To support the digital loyalty program in December, Ankeny, Iowa-based Casey’s launched a “24 Days of Casey’s Rewards” campaign. “Program participation increased. Enrollments surged, and we had another great opportunity to give back to our guests and show them how much we appreciate their business,” Templeton said.
The campaign gave shoppers a surprise offer, such as a buy-one-get-one-free offer on candy, drinks and snacks, for each day of the program. “Casey’s has a highly engaged rewards members base, with about half of all members shopping with Casey’s during any given month,” Templeton said. “With the help of our 24 Days of Casey’s Rewards campaign in December, we grew our membership to more than 6 million members.”
Casey’s loyalty program awards members $1 in Casey’s Cash for every 250 points earned from purchases. Those points also can be used for 0.05 cents off each gallon of gas purchased. Members also earn a free pizza for every 10 pizzas purchased. “Casey’s Rewards is at the heart of the way we engage with our guests, just like our stores are at the heart of the communities we serve,” Templeton said.
- Casey’s General Stores is No. 4 on CSP’s 2022 Top 202 ranking of convenience-stores chains by total number of company-owned locations.
Casey’s started working with Punchh in 2018. “When we began our transformational journey in 2018, we worked to identify the top partners in the space. Punchh had developed deep relationships and expertise in the restaurant industry, and we were excited to tap into that as a convenience retailer with a robust restaurant operation,” Templeton said.
Casey’s General Stores Inc. operates more than 2,400 convenience stores in 16 states. The company, one of the top pizza retailers in the nation, has introduced new private-label foods such as cheesy breadsticks to draw consumers into its stores.
New Hartford, New York-based PAR Technology Corp. acquired Punchh Inc. in April 2021 and expanded its integrated point-of-sale, back-office, payment and customer engagement solutions.
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