Shake Shack Offers Bitcoin Rewards Via Cash App

Popular burger chain Shake Shack has entered the crypto space by offering to reward its customers with Bitcoin. 

The New York-based food chain will provide a partial refund to users who purchase burgers using the Cash App digital wallet created by digital payments company Block Inc.

As mentioned above, all Shake Shack customers will be entitled to a 15% refund in bitcoin for any orders made with the Cash Card debit card or via Cash Boost, a rewards program for Cash Card members. 

The burger chain will offer the deal in each of its 280 restaurants across the United States until mid-March as part of the company’s marketing experiment to attract a younger, more tech-savvy consumer base, the company told the Wall Street Journal.

Blobal interest in digital currencies spiked ten fold within 2021, and many companies, including those in the restaurant industry, are looking for innovative ways to reach consumers interested in cryptocurrencies.

In terms of demographics, the majority of cryptocurrency users are millennials and Gen Zers, which perfectly aligns with the main user base of Cash App and Block, currently led by former Twitter CEO and Bitcoin advocate Jack Dorsey.

Shake Shacks executives cited this as a key reason for why the burger chain chose Cash App as its partner for testing the new marketing plan.

Crypto on the Menu

Shake Shack representatives noted that they had not previously seen sufficient interest for the option to buy burgers in digital currencies. However, the situation may now be changing as crypto-based reward programs become increasingly popular in the catering industry.

McDonald’s was one of the first to test the crypto waters back in 2019, when it offered a cryptocurrency-based reward program to customers in the Philippines.

McDonald’s fast-food rival Burger King partnered with Robinhood in 2021 to offer partial refunds in Bitcoin, Ethereum and Dogecoin to customers who spent over $5 on Burger King orders, resulting in a 30% increase in the number of Burger King app downloads at the time.