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Tacala attracts new customers and wins back lapsed ones with Upside

February 2025

Key results

68%

of Upside-driven customers are net-new or previously infrequent

80%

more spend from regular customers after introducing Upside

81%

return on investment — for every dollar spent on Upside, Tacala made $1.81

The challenge

Profitably boost visit frequency

Tacala Companies is a Taco Bell franchisee headquartered in Alabama. Starting with a single location in 1989, Tacala’s portfolio has grown to include more than 370 locations across Texas and the Southeast. Over 35 years in business, Tacala credits its commitment to service — for customers, for its employees, and for its communities — for its success.

But Tacala can only serve if it continues to drive customers through the doors of its locations, and for restaurants, that’s getting a lot harder to do. A big part of the reason is the rise of the uncommitted customer. These are diners who prioritize the value they receive from a transaction over loyalty to any particular restaurant or brand. This trend is showing up in the bottom line — recent Upside data shows the average daily revenue per restaurant is down 6% year-over-year after adjusting for inflation.

In order to hit its lofty growth goals, Tacala needed to earn more visits from value-conscious customers.

Upside solution

Personalized promotions

To win more visits from uncommitted customers, Tacala and Upside teamed up. The personalized promotions in the Upside marketplace motivate consumers to choose partner restaurants over their competitors — and for those retailers, Upside’s promotions amount to profitable transactions.

Now, any restaurateur can win more visits from customers with a large, one-size-fits-all discount, but that’s not a sustainable growth strategy. Upside’s personalized promotions ensure that each customer receives exactly the amount they need to motivate a change in behavior, without cannibalizing sales that Tacala would have expected to earn from their existing customers.

resultS

More spend from new customers and regulars alike

When Tacala began offering Upside promotions at its Taco Bell locations, the franchisee saw the lift in foot traffic it was looking for.

In total, 68% of all transactions driven by Upside came from new and infrequent customers. Those are diners who were either brand new to Tacala’s locations or averaged less than one visit every four months. The new customers went from zero spend per month to averaging $13 in monthly spend; the infrequent customers increased their average monthly spend by 500%.

“Upside is helping us influence those hard-to-reach customers that weren’t choosing our restaurants before,” said Chief Marketing Officer Marjorie Perlman.

"And not only that, but we’re seeing more frequent visits from our regular customers, too. As Upside’s reach and usage increases, we will reap even more benefit.”

Indeed, even when it came to regular customers — defined as those visiting more than once every two months — Upside changed their behavior and brought those customers through Tacala’s doors more often. Regular customers made up 20% of the transactions delivered by Upside, and spend by those customers increased by 42% after our partnership launched.

The proof for Upside’s impact on Tacala’s bottom line is its return on investment (ROI). For every dollar that the franchisee spends with Upside, it earns $1.81. That’s an 81% ROI, and that’s largely because Upside’s retail partners don’t pay anything unless Upside delivers incremental, net-new transactions they absolutely wouldn’t have earned otherwise.

Tacala’s relationship with Upside started with a trial in four of its key markets — the franchisee wanted to evaluate the impact of Upside before rolling out the program to its entire network.

“After seeing the lift to foot traffic and the positive ROI, we felt comfortable enough with Upside’s partnership model to introduce its promotions across our entire portfolio,” Perlman said.

Together, the franchisee and Upside are driving profitable foot traffic, and Taco Bell customers earn cash back every time they dine with Tacala. Upside’s mission is to create more of these win-win opportunities across the country, one Cheesy Gordita Crunch at a time.

Restaurant

Business Owners

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Retailer profile

Partner

Tacala

Industry

Restaurant

Location

Texas & Southeast U.S.

Number of sites

370+

Joined Upside

February 2025

Key results

68%

of Upside-driven customers are net-new or previously infrequent

80%

more spend from regular customers after introducing Upside

81%

return on investment — for every dollar spent on Upside, Tacala made $1.81

The challenge

Profitably boost visit frequency

Tacala Companies is a Taco Bell franchisee headquartered in Alabama. Starting with a single location in 1989, Tacala’s portfolio has grown to include more than 370 locations across Texas and the Southeast. Over 35 years in business, Tacala credits its commitment to service — for customers, for its employees, and for its communities — for its success.

But Tacala can only serve if it continues to drive customers through the doors of its locations, and for restaurants, that’s getting a lot harder to do. A big part of the reason is the rise of the uncommitted customer. These are diners who prioritize the value they receive from a transaction over loyalty to any particular restaurant or brand. This trend is showing up in the bottom line — recent Upside data shows the average daily revenue per restaurant is down 6% year-over-year after adjusting for inflation.

In order to hit its lofty growth goals, Tacala needed to earn more visits from value-conscious customers.

Upside solution

Personalized promotions

To win more visits from uncommitted customers, Tacala and Upside teamed up. The personalized promotions in the Upside marketplace motivate consumers to choose partner restaurants over their competitors — and for those retailers, Upside’s promotions amount to profitable transactions.

Now, any restaurateur can win more visits from customers with a large, one-size-fits-all discount, but that’s not a sustainable growth strategy. Upside’s personalized promotions ensure that each customer receives exactly the amount they need to motivate a change in behavior, without cannibalizing sales that Tacala would have expected to earn from their existing customers.

resultS

More spend from new customers and regulars alike

When Tacala began offering Upside promotions at its Taco Bell locations, the franchisee saw the lift in foot traffic it was looking for.

In total, 68% of all transactions driven by Upside came from new and infrequent customers. Those are diners who were either brand new to Tacala’s locations or averaged less than one visit every four months. The new customers went from zero spend per month to averaging $13 in monthly spend; the infrequent customers increased their average monthly spend by 500%.

“Upside is helping us influence those hard-to-reach customers that weren’t choosing our restaurants before,” said Chief Marketing Officer Marjorie Perlman.

"And not only that, but we’re seeing more frequent visits from our regular customers, too. As Upside’s reach and usage increases, we will reap even more benefit.”

Indeed, even when it came to regular customers — defined as those visiting more than once every two months — Upside changed their behavior and brought those customers through Tacala’s doors more often. Regular customers made up 20% of the transactions delivered by Upside, and spend by those customers increased by 42% after our partnership launched.

The proof for Upside’s impact on Tacala’s bottom line is its return on investment (ROI). For every dollar that the franchisee spends with Upside, it earns $1.81. That’s an 81% ROI, and that’s largely because Upside’s retail partners don’t pay anything unless Upside delivers incremental, net-new transactions they absolutely wouldn’t have earned otherwise.

Tacala’s relationship with Upside started with a trial in four of its key markets — the franchisee wanted to evaluate the impact of Upside before rolling out the program to its entire network.

“After seeing the lift to foot traffic and the positive ROI, we felt comfortable enough with Upside’s partnership model to introduce its promotions across our entire portfolio,” Perlman said.

Together, the franchisee and Upside are driving profitable foot traffic, and Taco Bell customers earn cash back every time they dine with Tacala. Upside’s mission is to create more of these win-win opportunities across the country, one Cheesy Gordita Crunch at a time.

Restaurant

Business Owners