The Rose Group is a restaurant franchise headquartered in greater Philadelphia. For over 40 years, The Rose Group has served its neighborhoods and communities with passionate care, and today, it operates 54 Applebee’s Grill + Bar restaurants in the Mid-Atlantic. 

In an effort to drive more customers through its front doors and ultimately minimize the amount of time between trips, The Rose Group turned to Upside in 2024. Like any discerning retailer, The Rose Group regularly audits its investments to make sure they’re delivering the kind of return it expects. 

In that discernment process, ROI questions naturally come up: Does Upside just reward customers who would have visited anyway? Will the program eat into my margins? How do I know the results are real?

To get the answers, The Rose Group partnered with MarketDial — a trusted, independent test-and-learn software provider that allowed the retailer to dig into the data and rigorously measure Upside’s impact.

The results from MarketDial were clear: Upside drives incremental transactions and revenue for The Rose Group. Compared to the general population, Upside users visit more often and spend more when they do.

The test methodology

As experts in test versus control measurement, MarketDial took an independent, analytically rigorous approach — one designed to track the incremental impact of Upside as accurately as possible. While there were some strong similarities to the incremental methodology Upside uses, MarketDial applied its own set of assumptions and best practices.

Here’s how it worked: MarketDial matched Upside customers with 10 similar non-Upside customers — people shopping at the same locations, visiting a similar number of times, and spending a similar amount each visit. The test group then started using Upside, while the control group continued to shop as usual without using the app. The test compared the difference in behavior between these two groups over the same period.

The results: A measurable lift in transactions and revenue

After reviewing its findings, MarketDial found that Upside customers are driving incremental transactions and bigger check sizes — establishing proof for Upside’s impact.

“Coming into this analysis, we wanted to see that Upside meaningfully boosted trip frequency and resulted in profitable transactions every time. The test proved both to be true,” said Chris Tobia, CFO of The Rose Group. “That gave us a lot of confidence in our partnership. We’re excited to work with Upside to continue growing our business.”

Take a closer look at the numbers below. Compared to control customers from the general population, the average Upside customer visited 127% more often and paid 5% more per check when they visited. 

For both Upside customers and their control counterparts, check size and number of trips increased compared to the time period before the analysis began. The increase for the control group accounts for the franchisee’s other marketing and promotional initiatives. But what we see is that the Upside customers increased their transaction size and monthly transaction count by even more — isolating Upside as the driver of that incremental impact. 

The figures for Upside users in MarketDial’s test reflect all transactions made by customers after their Upside accounts were activated, regardless of whether Upside was used at the time. In other words, many of these Upside users came back to The Rose Group’s restaurants without claiming an offer. Off-app spend by Upside customers makes the platform even more valuable to retailers, as those transactions come without any profit-sharing fees or promotion costs. 

In addition to measuring increases in activity, MarketDial also calculated the amount of incremental revenue that Upside has driven for The Rose Group, comparing its own number to Upside’s stated incremental impact and determining statistical alignment. 

In the end, the incremental revenue calculations showed a 3.4% difference, comfortably fitting into the 90% confidence interval to validate Upside’s incrementality.

Tested and proven, time and time again

The Rose Group is one of many restaurant franchisees to validate some or all of Upside’s measurement methodology in recent months, following Mitra QSR and Tasty Restaurant Group. 

We welcome these analyses because we know the data will back it up: Upside changes customer behavior in measurable, profitable ways. Alignment on incrementality isn’t just a technical detail — it’s one of the most critical parts of our partnerships.

See how Upside can elevate your restaurant business   

If you’ve wondered whether Upside really drives new, profitable visits, these independent results show the impact is measurable, repeatable, and worth the investment. 

‍Get in touch with our team of restaurant experts today.