Dive Brief:
- Just Salad is launching a new loyalty system that combines surprise-and-delight, mystery box elements with an emphasis on frequency and “instant gratification,” according to an emailed press release.
- The program, JS Rewards, offers consumers a “mystery bowl” with every qualifying purchase above $12 — excluding tax and tip.
- The mystery bowls contain rewards ranging from discounts and free menu items to stamps. Other rewards can be redeemed with stamps collected through the program.
Dive Insight:
Offering a reward on every purchase is a strong way to incentivize frequency, while the randomized component of the mystery bowls adds an element of chance to rewards. Members receive monthly promotions and surprise and delight rewards in addition to the mystery bowls attached to qualified orders.
The mystery bowls also have a ticking clock element: consumers have 24 hours to open the mystery bowls and a month to redeem the corresponding rewards. Rewards earned through stamp collecting — salad bowls and market plates — do not expire for one year.
The monthly rewards tend to be smaller items, like free drinks and snacks or $3 discounts.
Just Salad poked fun at the complicated structure of competitors’ loyalty programs in its press release: “while most loyalty programs rely on complex tiering and delayed rewards, JS Rewards is designed at instant gratification.”
The emphasis on surprise and delight and randomness cuts against the prevailing trends in restaurant loyalty. Personalization depends to some degree on consumer ability to select rewards, which is easier in points-based systems than in ones where rewards behave like video game mystery box prizes.
Panera, for example, is testing a points-based program in hundreds of stores. Jimmy John’s, another surprise-and-delight stalwart, abandoned the randomized rewards system for the predictability of points accumulation in September.
But Nick Kenner, CEO and founder of Just Salad, said the brand has other priorities in the architecture of its system, and frequency-based rewards “[are] giving guests real value right away, with zero friction.”
The chain will promote the program with daily rewards for members from Feb. 9 to Feb. 13, according to the press release.
The brand is coming off a busy 2025. Early last year, Just Salad raised $200 million to fuel its growth, and has since added about 10 units. The chain also opened its first drive-thru in 2025 and added dinner plates to its menu. With competitors like Sweetgreen and Salad & Go facing shrinking sales or declining store systems, Just Salad may have a chance to make greater inroads in the fast casual segment.
