If you want to experience the Disneyland of loyalty programs, go to Japanese BBQ chain Gyu-Kaku. I first went to Gyu-Kaku over twenty years ago when they opened their first location in the US in West Los Angeles. Twenty years later, I went back for the first time last night only to learn that they have since grown to over 800 restaurants globally with an estimated $159M in revenue in 2022 alone.

Gyu-Kaku is far from the only experiential grill-your-own-meats establishment around, but they stand out from the rest by providing a gamified and loyalty-centric dining experience unlike any I've seen. Here's how they do it:

1. Gamified menu - the all-you-can-eat menu is organized into visual food packages that seek to upsell diners for additional items. $50 for 45 items, $65 for 60 items, $70 for 80 items.

2. Loyalty offers - diners are heavily encouraged to download the Gyu-Kaku loyalty app while dining at the restaurant. Every booth has a QR code ad and the program details are printed out alongside the food menu. A $10-per-person discount at your next visit awaits you. Our server said most diners he sees sign up and come back.

3. The app - Gyu-Kaku's app invites users to scan their receipt to earn points upon completion of their meal. This might seem simple, but getting anyone to download an app these days, much less use it, is not easy. The onboarding experience and UX were super clear.

   

   
   

   4. Experience - by far the greatest loyalty driver is Gyu-Kaku's commitment to service. The servers are Disneyland-level enthusiastic and chatty. They bring the staff out to sing guests happy birthday. It's corny and delightful in the best possible way. At a time when dining often seems less personal and more sterile than ever - ordering off QR codes, digital menus, etc. - real human connection and conversation was a breath of fresh air.

      tl;dr go to Gyu-Kaku, grill some meats, enjoy your life. Find a location near you, thank me later.
      
      Cheers,
      -bradorbradley.eth

👋 Welcome!

The Stack Digest is a weekly newsletter about loyalty, points, and roundup on all things Stack enjoyed in 5 mins or less.

What's covered 👇

🧑‍💻Stack for Developers - developers are starting to use loyalty programs as an alternative to traditional databases

📰 Must-reads this week - MetaMask and Mastercard, Apple NFC payments, and SoundCloud stores for artists

🧑‍💻 Stack for Developers

We just launched a Stack for Developers page to help developers understand how to use Stack as a faster, lower-cost alternative to Supabase. Using Stack as an alternative to a traditional database kills two birds with one stone: (1) save time building applications by issuing points directly from event data and (2) identify who your top users are based on their points balances.

❓ How it works:

• Run custom functions on onchain event data to assign points for onchain activity

• Add social gamification features out of the box

• Monitor usage in a real-time analytics dashboard

• Make points valuable by allowing users to redeem them for rewards

We've noticed some developers like Sweetman.eth and the SIC team have started using Stack as a powerful developer tool to save time and money while building applications.

Learn more about Stack for Developers here.

📰 Must-reads this week

Here's what the Stack team read this week 👇

🦊 MetaMask is starting the rollout of its blockchain-based debit card developed with payments giant Mastercard

🍎 Apple announced they are opening up tap-to-pay (NFC) tooling to third-party developers, which will have major implications for onchain commerce according to Jeremy Allaire from Circle

☁ Soundcloud launched a merch marketplace called SoundCloud Store that allows any artist to create and sell their own designs and keep 100% of the profits (for now, at least)