(This post was originally written in 2018. Native Foods’ loyalty program isn’t all that new anymore!)
Native Foods is a small chain restaurant using all plant-based ingredients. It’s based in California, though they have outposts as far away as Chicago. Their food can be hit and miss in my opinion, but when they have a hit, they hit it out of the park.
I’ve been a fan of Native Foods for years now, making a pilgrimage out to the suburban “lifestyle” mall which is their only current outpost in Oregon. (I always ask if they’ll ever open up in Portland proper, and they always say it’s “right around the corner“.)
I’ve also long been a fan of their loyalty program. It was very simple: Sign up with an email address and then earn points with every dollar you spend. Every $200 you spend you get a $10 coupon. (Plus they give you $10 on your birthday, which I always appreciate.) Easy.
So you can imagine my alarm when I got an email from Native Foods saying that they were rolling out a brand new loyalty program. Enhancements like these are never good.
And to our relevance here, the email said “In order to … continue earning points, you have to … Download our free app.“
Oh no. Don’t be a company where you have to have a smartphone in order to be a part of their loyalty program. (I’m looking at you, Veggie Grill.)
Customer service to the rescue
Curious and expecting the worst, I emailed customer service to ask if we really needed a smartphone.
The response on the other end:
Hi Mike,
Absolutely! It’s not as convenient, unfortunately, but you can still participate for sure.
Here are the instructions:
Please go to the following link on your browser and sign up.
https://www.nativefoods.com/rewards/Once completed, please let me know and I will transfer your rewards and points over to you.
From there, always be sure to have the store print a receipt for you so that you can log in at the same link, choose Check In and enter the number under the barcode on the receipt. This will allow you to accrue points.
To redeem rewards, Redeem Rewards or Offers links, type in the amount desired to redeem and the system will generate a code that is good for 4 hours. Have the cashier type in this code when you are at the store and you will be all set. If you redeem rewards but don’t use the code within 4 hours, the amount will simply go back to your account for later usage.
Okay, well that’s something.
But let’s remember that Native Foods had a perfectly good rewards system. You didn’t need an app. You didn’t need a card. You just gave the cashier your email address and the points were added to your account.
How is this an improvement?
But at least Native Foods offers some option, so no matter what, you can still earn points for yummy plant-based foods. I highly recommend the “meatball” sub.
Footnote: Perhaps I wasn’t the only one who emailed them! In their followup email, they added a footer. Check this out:
Nice work Native Foods. Now keep going and make your loyalty program better for everyone.
Update (Jan 31, 2019): I have verified that the new system works. Receipts at the store have a barcode on them, and you can enter in the barcode number on your rewards page. Your points value will be immediately updated. So, still annoying, but at least it works.
Update #2 (Jan 31, 2019): They have gotten rid of the meatball sub. Damn it, Native Foods.
