Customer proof on record
How Captain D's grew member accounts 42% with Spendgo
- Customer on record
- Captain D's
- Vendor on record
- Spendgo
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Proofmap summary
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Captain D's, a hospitality brand with 530 restaurants, implemented Spendgo to provide an "easy, flexible, passwordless phone number solution" for its loyalty program. By its senior director of national marketing's account, the company saw its "member accounts increase 42%" over the past year. Keith Canseco notes that SMS subscriptions grew 58% and that "loyalty members spend 30% more than non-loyalty members" even after reward discounts.
Approved quotes
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Showing all 44 quotes
- Background
Speaker Introduction
“Hi. My name is Keith Canseco, and I'm the senior director of national marketing at Captain D's.”
- Background
Company Overview
“Captain D's is a long-term seafood QSR brand. We've been around since 1969. We have 530 restaurants, primarily in the southeast United States, but we do go out to the West Coast and up into Michigan. We serve delicious seafood, both fried and grilled.”
- Background
Unique QSR Experience
“To our guests, we're a little bit of an anomaly in the QSR world. It is a fast food restaurant, but we have a sit-down kind of meal. It's a platter with a protein and two sides—a knife and fork meal. We provide that dinner at a QSR experience and price.”
- Background
Company Overview (Short)
“Captain D's is a QSR seafood restaurant since 1969. We're located in the southeast United States and today we serve 530 restaurants.”
- Background
Company Overview (Growth)
“Captain D's is a QSR seafood brand in the southeast United States with 530 restaurants open today and growing.”
- Before
Defining Loyalty & Engagement
“Our biggest challenge with loyalty really was defining what loyalty is, because the restaurant industry has changed so much in the past five years. We had used older systems in the past, basically the old punch card system, but we still never found that we were really understanding who our guest was. We weren't meeting them in the right place where they wanted to be met. Our challenge was: how can we really bring a Captain D's guest into our brand, make them feel they're part of the brand, and talk to them where they want to be talked to? Whether it's on an app, email, SMS text messages, or at the kiosk. Guests want to interact with a brand; they expect to be talked back to. That's what we set out to do when choosing our current loyalty provider.”
- How they use it
Flexible Agnostic Solution
“We were currently building out our digital program and online ordering, and the first thing I said was, I don't want a huge all-in-one loyalty solution like we had previously. I was looking for a solution that was really customizable to us. The last thing we wanted to do was to intertwine ourselves into something that we couldn't unbundle. We were really looking for a technology-agnostic partner that could work with our software and pivot as our strategy changed. We knew that the kiosk was going to be the next big thing, so we needed a perfect loyalty provider that could make those shifts for us quickly in the years to come.”
- Results
Passwordless & Future-Proofing
“The biggest challenge when we were trying to find the right provider for loyalty was looking for a solution that wasn't necessarily an all-in-one. We wanted a technology agnostic solution that would allow us to pivot our strategies quickly—whether we wanted to change technologies or add kiosks. What was great about partnering with Spendgo is they offered us quick and easy success for our current strategy, as well as future strategies. The solution is simple: a phone number-first, very seamless passwordless system. That flexibility was a really strong reason why we decided to partner with Spendgo.”
- Results
Removing Friction (Passwordless)
“Consumers today have tons of passwords, and the biggest challenge we hear from guests is, 'I don't know my password, I can't remember.' So to have an easy, flexible, passwordless phone number solution across a network of over 30 million members was a no-brainer for us. It creates the solution we need to remove friction when a guest uses our program.”
- Results
Frictionless QSR Loyalty
“The biggest challenge for guests today is the friction it takes when placing an order. There are a lot of extra steps involved in creating an account or logging in. Since we are a QSR fast food restaurant, we want to remove as many steps as possible. Spendgo is a really great solution that removes all the friction points and makes for easy use of a loyalty program. We don't want guests to have to think about it that much.”
- Results
Network & Integration Value
“When we were switching our online ordering platform to Olo, Spendgo quickly rose to the top because of their network. It added an easy, seamless way for a guest to use the program without too many barriers to entry. We're all guilty of forgetting our password or abandoning carts because a system asks too much of us. We really wanted something that was almost out of mind. I know that sounds counterintuitive for a loyalty program, but in today's world, you want to provide a solution that gives guests what they need without them having to put any extra thought into it. Spendgo provided that for us.”
- Background
Kiosk Adoption Trends
“Five years ago, if you had asked any of the top big players to put a kiosk in their restaurant, you would have been met with skepticism. Today, it's everywhere. You'll see some testing of AI drive-thrus, and you see all different age ranges using it. It's very easy to get trapped into biases, thinking the 65-plus crowd isn't going to use this, but that's simply not the case. You can walk into a store today and see someone age 70 and someone age 25 both ordering from a kiosk.”
- Background
Technology Shifts & Biases
“The restaurant industry has changed dramatically. Five years ago, if you had mentioned kiosks, quick pay systems, or voice AI drive-thrus, people would have thought you were thinking 20 years down the road. Today, all ages are using these technologies in restaurants. It's easy to get trapped in the bias that people 65-plus will not use online ordering or kiosks, but that is simply not the case today.”
- Results
Seamless Integration & Pivot
“We knew we needed to find solutions quickly to pivot our brand for the future. Spendgo was seamless, easy, and flexible. They were able to work with the current technology we had and integrate easily with our systems. We weren't looking for an 'all-in' loyalty at the restaurant; we wanted something quick that lived in the digital space, and they were quick to provide that. It's been so great this year that we are actually expanding it to in-restaurant usage, as well as testing with future kiosk projects coming down the pipeline.”
- Results
Agile Integration
“With Spendgo, it was really great because they provided a quick, easy, flexible, seamless solution. Having a phone number-first solution was easy. We were looking for something that we could easily integrate with our current technology, and they were quick to do that. It wasn't just a plug-and-play or an all-in-one solution; they really worked to integrate with our technology, which helped us pivot for our next step coming into 2025: expanding to our in-house guests.”
- Results
Loyalty as Identity Management
“A lot of times loyalty is just associated with a digital coupon or some sort of discount. While those are great, loyalty really should be about personalization and the identity of the guest in order to get them what they want when they need it. With that, you will see repeat usage and higher spend rather than just a blanket coupon.”
- Background
Meeting the Guest
“Loyalty used to be simple: we got a guest's email and sent them something. But today, it really is about identifying who that guest is so you can meet them where they want to be met. If I'm not someone who likes a text message and you're sending me SMS, you're not reaching me. Whether I want to use email, text, or just deal with you in the restaurant, it's really important to identify who that guest is and talk to them how they want.”
- Background
Identity Management Evolution
“Loyalty has changed in the last decade. Today there are so many touch points where you can learn who a guest is. Loyalty is really about identity management—identifying the guest as quickly and easily as you can, and then talking to them where they want to be talked to. That is why loyalty is extremely important: to really focus more on identity management rather than just giving a blanket reward.”
- Results
Starter Members & Ease
“With Spendgo, we are really able to reach and identify a guest as quickly and easily as possible. We spend a lot of time focusing on 'starter members'—people that come to Captain D's for the first time. Spendgo is able to do that with their easy, passwordless, phone number-first system. With their wide network, we're able to reach guests as quickly and easily as possible.”
- Background
First Party Data Profitability
“First party data is extremely important, and it ties directly to loyalty. It's identity management—knowing who that guest is so you can reach them the way they want. The reason why first party is so important is because it's very profitable. It's your guest. Knowing who that guest is and getting them into your CRM or CDP is vital to maintaining that relationship.”
- Background
Understanding First Party Data
“First party' is a buzzword you hear a lot, but often it's not defined. First party is not just saying, 'Hey, this is Keith, and he comes to Captain D's once a month.' First party is really understanding his behavior—how he uses you and why. How does he want to engage with your brand? That's extremely important because then you can create a lifetime value of a guest and market to them accordingly. That's where first party is needed, because that's the only way you're going to know that.”
- How they use it
Bundled vs Best-of-Breed
“The best way to understand your first party guest is to find the correct solution. Sometimes, using a bundled 'all-in-one' solution forces you into a certain data platform that is not right for your guest or your brand. And then you can be stuck. It's hard to unbundle those things when you shift strategies.”
- Results
Technology Agnostic Advantage
“The biggest thing I hear from my peers in the industry is that they're stuck in their technology, often in these all-in-one solutions that they can't unbundle. That's the exact opposite of what technology should be; it should position you to grow your brand. This is why Spendgo was a no-brainer for us. We wanted an agnostic solution that could work with our technology so we could quickly switch a certain software if we wanted to and not get stuck in a system we couldn't unwind. You shouldn't be beholden to technology; you should be using it to drive your brand forward.”
- Results
Flexible Pricing Model
“Spendgo's pricing model was perfect for us. A lot of other solutions force you to pay fees for solutions that you may not be using now. With Spendgo, it was a simple price-per-store, per-month fee, and they were easy to work with.”
- Results
Scalable Pricing
“Spendgo's pricing was great and easy for what we needed. They provided a quick price-per-month, per-store solution that allows for easy scalability. Sometimes with bundle solutions, you end up paying for things you don't use. With Spendgo, we could easily pay for what we want at a price that works for our budget.”
- Results
Metrics of Success
“Some of the things we consider our metrics of success are our member accounts: how many unique accounts we have, how many are subscribed to email, and how many are subscribed to SMS. We have also done several keyword campaigns, which is a really cool feature that Spendgo offers. It's quick, seamless, and easy, and we've seen great success.”
- Results
Significant Growth Metrics
“With Spendgo over this past year, we saw our member accounts increase 42%. Our email subscriptions increased 47%, and SMS has grown 58% since we started. What's really awesome is that these unique members spend 38% more than our non-member guests, even after factoring in reward discounts. We also use keyword campaigns—for example, you can text 'LOBSTER' and instantly get a free reward loaded into your account.”
- Results
Growth Summary (Repetition)
“Over this past year, our member acquisitions increased 42%, our email subscribers grew 47%, and our SMS text message opt-ins increased 58%.”
- Results
Passwordless Growth
“With Spendgo's seamless phone number-first, passwordless functionality, we grew our member accounts 42% over the prior year.”
- Results
High Member Usage
“You can listen to earnings calls and hear crazy numbers of 86 million or 130 million people in a loyalty count, but when you look at regular usage, you're getting in the 7 to 9% range. With Spendgo, we've seen right around 14 to 15% usage, which is really great.”
- Results
Low Fall-off Rate
“We've seen amazing usage by people who enroll. The fall-off has been very little for people that created an account through Spendgo's easy, seamless, phone number-first, passwordless system. We see roughly 15% of those people use it on a monthly basis.”
- Results
SMS Growth
“With Spendgo, our SMS subscribers have increased 58% since the prior year.”
- Results
Keyword Campaign Success
“One thing I'm incredibly excited about building on in 2025 is Spendgo’s keyword campaigns. This is an awesome solution where guests can simply text a keyword and have an offer directly loaded onto their account. Running this program, we saw new SMS subscribers in one week equal to what we normally get organically in one month.”
- Results
Member Spend Increase
“Our loyalty members spend around 38% more than our non-loyalty members. That's people using the Spendgo platform spending 38% more, even after the reward discount is factored in.”
- Results
Spend Increase (2024)
“In 2024, we saw loyalty members spend 30% more than non-loyalty members, and that's with the reward discounts factored into that.”
- Results
In-Store Redemption Ease
“One of the exciting things about building on the Spendgo platform is allowing our guests to use the program in the restaurant. We made it as easy as possible—guest first. If a guest has a free birthday cheesecake, they can just pull out their app and scan a QR code where the reward is already loaded. Unlike other systems where the cashier has to search through rewards on the POS, this is guest-focused: 'Scan, here's a cheesecake reward.' This speeds up the process for our employees, which is critical given high turnover in QSR, and ultimately provides more guest satisfaction.”
- Results
Streamlined Redemption Logic
“I'm really excited to provide the loyalty experience to our in-store guests. We wanted a solution where a guest can come in and say, 'I've got a free cheesecake.' Instead of the scan showing a bunch of rewards that our cashier has to choose from, the reward is loaded into the QR code itself. When they scan the code, boom! That makes the call to Spendgo to give them the reward.”
- Results
Flexible Partnership
“Spendgo's team has been great to work with. Their flexibility to meet the needs of our current technology and the solutions we want for our business strategy has been spot on. We don't feel that we're beholden to a system or current parameters; they've always met us along the way to prioritize our solutions first.”
- Background
Challenging Biases
“One of the biggest challenges for marketing leaders is understanding how fast technology shifts. There is often resistance to new technology based on an underlying bias of who they think their guest is. That's why identity management is very important—it helps you remove those biases. It's easy to get caught in the trap of saying, 'Our guests are 50-plus, they won't use that.' When deciding on technology, it's vital to find the right partner that will meet your needs, rather than one who says they can do anything but then takes 18 months to get a solution done.”
- Background
Long-Term Planning
“In a restaurant environment, things move on a weekly basis, but you have to look at things long-term. In reality, you need to plan your solutions for three to five years out or you're going to get stuck building a technology stack that prevents you from meeting your business goals as they change.”
- Background
Marketing vs Tech Roles
“Marketing in the restaurant world has a bad habit of being a catch-all, especially when it comes to technology. Technology has really engulfed the restaurant industry, and often that strategy is led by marketing. You start seeing Chief Digital Officers, which is sort of a marketer that focuses more on digital initiatives—capturing the technology side without being a traditional techie.”
- Background
Career Path & Tech Integration
“I've been with Captain D's almost 13 years, and it's vital that marketers understand technology solutions and find the right partner because things change dramatically. Loyalty has grown from just being a digital punch card to today, where you can easily capture who your guest is through a text message at the drive-thru. Partnering with Spendgo is important for mid-sized brands to find the right solution for their budget. I personally like the mid-level because it allows you to really understand your guests, choose the right solutions, and see the results much quicker than you can with a mega brand.”
- Background
Data over Instinct
“I spend a lot of time talking about biases. It's a challenge to constantly look at the data that goes against your thoughts, rather than making decisions based on a hunch or saying, 'We've been doing this for ten years.' What worked a year ago is not going to work today. It's absolutely amazing that the same consumer can visit Captain D's and then McDonald's and interact completely differently. That's why it's important to know who your guest is. One thing I always say is that you don't own your brand—the guest owns your brand. You should make your business strategy based on how a guest uses, interacts, and talks with your brand.”
- Background
Future: Drive-Thru & Anonymous
“One of things I am excited about in 2025 is looking for a solution for our drive-thru guests. That's probably the biggest barrier right now—they're in their car, in and out. How can you provide a solution to them? Second to that is the anonymous guest. No matter what you do with loyalty, 80 to 90% of people are going to check out anonymously. We have to figure out how to reach those guests.”