Recently, fast food chain Shake Shack (NYSE: SHAK) announced it will be piloting cash-back rewards in the form of bitcoin (BTC) to customers who pay for their orders with Block's (NYSE SQ) (formally Square) Cash App.
Eligible orders from Shake Shack will obtain 15% of the cost in bitcoin currency, and in order to qualify, consumers are required to pay with Cash Card (Cash App's debit card). This marketing ploy will go on throughout mid-March, and act as a means of appealing to a younger audience.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the majority of Block's consumers are of the younger crowd, usually millennials or Gen Zers. This marketing technique will also glimpse whether or not individuals desire to pay with cryptocurrency or if there is enough demand for it, Jay Livingston, chief marketing officer of Shake Shack, told the WSJ.
According to Shake Shack, it stands as one of the very first brands on Cash App that provides bitcoin as a reward for purchases that have been made, "as it looks to meet guests how and where they want." Livingston also said that Shake Shack chose to collaborate with Block since users have already been familiar with bitcoin on Cash App, which has been used as a form of currency on the app since 2018.
"You're always trying to place your bets on those things that truly will be meaningful and not waste resources on the ones that won't," said Livingston in a statement.
There has been a good deal of competition among other fast food chains when it comes to utilizing bitcoin as a form of currency. Instead of burger wars, there are now "bitcoin wars." In November 2021, Burger King (NYSE: QSR) collaborated with Robinhood (NASDAQ: HOOD) in order to administer bitcoin, ethereum, and dogecoin to Royal Perks loyalty program members whenever customers would spend a certain amount of money (5$) on the restaurant's app.