Sandwich chain Jersey Mike’s Subs is upping its investments in mobile with a revamped mobile application that lets consumers place orders for pick up and tightly integrates with the company’s loyalty program.

Jersey Mike’s Subs announced its plans to roll out mobile ordering earlier this year and has now launched a revamped app that the company plans to make a central part of its loyalty program. Additionally, the chain is implementing mobile point-of-sale systems into stores to elevate the in-restaurant experience.

“We started with just the loyalty program and knew from customer feedback that we had a good start, however, we felt like it was not complete enough,” said Rich Hope, chief marketing officer of Jersey Mike’s Subs, Manasquan, NJ.

“We have learned that creating a relevant app is an ongoing process and that, based on ever-changing technology, we’ll continue to evolve it, adding new and improved features, to ensure we are providing our customers with an exceptional experience,” he said.

Order on mobile
Jersey Mike’s Subs initially began working on its mobile ordering plans in May (see story).

The brand has now integrated a mobile ordering feature to its existent, loyalty-based app. Jersey Mike’s Subs claims that its loyalty program has 1.7 million members.

Consumers can first find nearby Jersey Mike’s locations and view directions to locations. The app also integrates nutrition information from the sandwich chain’s menu.

Locations can be favorited to speed up future orders as well.

Once a location has been selected, consumers can add items to an order and link it to a credit card.

Consumers then set a time to pick up their order and are asked to bring their credit card into the store with them to verify that their name and credit information matches the same information on the order.

Additionally, the app also integrates social media so that consumers can post content on Facebook and Twitter.

The app is available for free download on iPhone devices and will also roll for Android owners in the near future.

Jersey Mike’s Subs is also rolling out mobile point-of-sale terminals with a bar code scanner where consumers can redeem their loyalty points from the chain’s Jersey Mike’s Shore Points Rewards program.

The company plans to add in the ability to pay at the counter into the mobile POS.

The POS terminals also allow consumers to swipe a credit card themselves at the register to pay for their meal.

Another screenshot of the app

Past efforts?
This is not the first time that Jersey Mike’s Subs has leveraged mobile to build up its loyalty efforts.

In 2012, the company saw 650,000 members sign up for its loyalty program after taking it mobile (see story).

Jersey Mike’s Subs joins a growing list of brands tapping mobile to enhance the in-store experience.

Compared to other restaurants though, Jersey Mike Sub’s is a step ahead of the game with online ordering, which is an area that still has plenty of kinks that need to be worked out. Two of the main issues are around educating employees and prepping items before they are picked up by diners.

“Online ordering is a growth opportunity and mobile is where everything is going so it made sense to combine the two,” Mr. Hope said.

“This way our customers have a simple, easy-to-use app to take advantage of features like geo-location when ordering their favorite sub,” he said.

Final Take
Lauren Johnson is associate reporter on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York