Philippines loyalty program expands to Guam

ZAP, a loyalty program developed in the Philippines, announced that it is expanding to Vietnam, with KFC Guam becoming its first partner merchant in the US territory.

KFC is said to be the biggest fast food chain in Guam reaching over 180,000 residents on the island.

“Landing a deal with KFC in Guam is a testament to how our closed loop model has been able to make an impact in the businesses of our over 800 local partner merchants. We aim to help KFC in making more data-driven decisions in creating campaigns for their consumers.consumers,” says Dustin Cheng, CEO and co-founder of ZAP.

KFC Guam Marketing Director Edgar Caper said investing in a customer loyalty program will enable KFC to get insights from diners’ behavior, including average transaction value, frequency of purchase, and time of transaction.

“ZAP’s technology brings the ease and relevance both to operations and to the consumers. On the marketing side, the technology is distinct to [ZAP] and highly convenient to manage the database and trigger the consumer with messages of the brand,” Caper said.

With ZAP as the partner of KFC Guam, the quick-service restaurant will benefit from the closed loop model offered by the leading loyalty program in the Philippines.

ZAP introduced the closed loop model in 2013 where merchants have full control of their loyalty programs as they don’t share points with others. With this set-up, brands are able to enhance the consumer experience by improving their marketing and operations resulting to enhanced brand-consumer relationship.

Cheng says one of the most important factors in crafting a successful loyalty program is the ease of use for customers, and customization for businesses.

Signing up and earning points is as easy as entering one's mobile number on the merchant's in-store tablet. If they choose to download the optional ZAP mobile application, customers can easily view all the points they accumulated from different merchants at the tap of a finger. Loyalty mechanics on more than 800 merchants are also available at a glance, and transactions made are accounted for and rewards can be quickly redeemed.

To ease the process and to minimize staff intervention, the program can also be integrated to the point of sale (POS). Tablets are connected to the POS and positioned right at the counter so customers can simply input their mobile number while paying for their transaction.

Cheng says loyalty programs should be able to gather as much necessary information to help businesses improve product offers for customers and track their financial performance. Data such as visits per customer, average transaction value, and branch performance all contribute to more sound decisions for entrepreneurs.

As a pioneering brand in the loyalty space, ZAP has been through several technology tweaks that led to its current model.