Upside has spent years cultivating a rich, engaged marketplace for food and fuel in the St. Louis area. A marquee restaurant partner in the region could capitalize on this hub of user activity — and we think Panera would be a perfect fit.

Panera is especially popular on its home turf. Fair prices are a difference maker, so we wanted to understand how our Upside users engage with Panera's offerings.

Nearly 50% of those we surveyed said they had visited Panera in the past year. Overall, these individuals are frequent restaurant customers — they told us they dine out seven times per month across five different restaurants, on average. That’s a clear sign that these are high-opportunity consumers who are open to trying new brands, primarily making decisions based on value and convenience. 

At the same time, 66% of our respondents said they are not enrolled in MyPanera. Of those who are enrolled, 84% visited in the past 12 months, but only 51% visited in the last month. That represents significant room to grow both program participation and member engagement. 

It’s worth noting that this fragmentation and uncommitted behavior is not occurring because these users aren’t influenceable — it’s because Upside hasn’t yet brought a premier fast-casual restaurant to their area. 

In markets where we do have strong restaurant coverage, we’ve proven our ability to consolidate spend and shift consumer behavior, just as we’ve done for years in fuel. On average, 54% of Upside users are first-time customers, and among existing customers, Upside doubles monthly spend and visit frequency. 

New customers and loyalty members alike need meaningful incentives to return more often. That’s where Upside excels.

Influence changes in customer behavior

Upside is a digital marketplace that connects retailers with nearby customers using personalized cash-back promotions. These one-to-one, margin-bound promotions are influential for the consumer while remaining profitable for the retailer.

Why do these promotions matter? According to the American Economic Association, the typical restaurant customer is willing to travel 3.1 miles for a meal outside of the home. However, when a customer uses Upside, we observe that they’re willing to travel farther. When our users claim a restaurant offer, they travel an average of 4.6 miles to dine out — a mile and a half farther than the average American. We know how to change behavior to drive more customers to your locations — and we can do it profitably.

MyPanera is really effective for actively engaged customers. Upside can complement those existing initiatives by focusing on everyone else. Upside’s cash-back promotions target the behavior gaps that matter most:

• High-frequency diners who are not yet loyal to Panera
• Lapsed or infrequent MyPanera members who need an incentive to re-engage
• Customers currently directing spend to competitors like Starbucks and Chick-fil-A

MyPanera & Upside: Boosting your impact together

MyPanera is a best-in-class loyalty program that drives engagement and retention. It's a smart investment because it rewards loyalty and provides a direct channel to better understand and serve your customers.

But for the large percentage of customers for whom loyalty isn’t a determining factor in deciding what to eat — only 16% in our survey ranked it among their top 3 factors when choosing where to visit — loyalty alone doesn’t move the needle. Your existing programming becomes far more powerful when paired with personalized value, which is exactly what Upside offers.

By layering cash-back rewards on top of Panera’s existing pricing and loyalty strategy, Upside helps bridge the gap between consumer intent and actual visits, delivering measurable profit lift without discounting or devaluing the brand.

Learn more about how MyPanera and Upside can work together to drive results.