The next stage in Chipotle’s master plan to sell more burritos: a gamified rewards program

Chipotle, like almost every other fast casual restaurant, has been battling an ongoing period of increased inflation and lower consumer spending. Last year, the company saw what its CEO Scott Boatwright described to investors as a “broad-based pullback in frequency” of customer visits, especially among low- to middle-income customers and younger consumers, due to concerns about the economy. But the burrito chain has a master plan to address that, and it’s currently moving into its next phase: making earning rewards feel more like a game.

The company’s fourth quarter report showed a revenue increase of 5.4% to $11.9 billion. But those gains were partially offset by a 1.7% drop year-over-year in comparable restaurant sales, or the number of total sales at an existing store—a small decline, but a concerning one for investors after the company saw two blockbuster sales years in 2023 and 2024. 

Boatwright has laid out a multi-part plan to boost sales, including increasing Chipotle’s “menu innovation cadence” through limited time offerings, doubling down on protein, and relaunching the rewards program. The company has already hit on those first two goals with its Chicken Al Pastor launch and new protein menu. 

Now, it’s checking off the third item with its rewards program is getting a facelift to encourage more frequent ordering. It entices users with more opportunities to earn points and score free food—and makes ordering a burrito feel like part of a quest.

The reworked platform introduces several new features, revives fan-favorite activations like Freepotle, and includes a tweaked app interface that makes earning rewards feel more like a game. It’s a major part of the chain’s plan to convince the American public to get back into their burrito-buying habits.

How Chipotle Rewards notched 21 million active users

Chipotle’s rewards program first launched in 2019, long after most other food chains had joined the rewards game. Since then, rewards have become one of the most lucrative parts of Chipotle’s business: Today, Chipotle Rewards hosts more than 21 million active members and drives roughly 30% of total sales, the majority of which are made through the app rather than on the web. By comparison, all digital transactions accounted for only 10% of the chain’s total sales back in 2018.

Curt Garner, Chipotle’s chief strategy and technology officer (and the mastermind behind the brand’s app), says that when rewards launched, they functioned mainly as an “affinity program”—a simple way to recognize the brand’s most loyal fans. Over the past few years, though, as rewards have become more central to Chipotle’s business model, his team has invested in more experimentation to find out what kind of features and activations are really motivating users. They looked to other brands—including non-restaurant brands, like Peloton—to see where innovative rewards programs were headed.

“They’ve got rewards tiers for walking or running a certain amount of miles in a month or having a certain amount of workouts in a week, and then they layer in cool, culturally relevant moments as well as specific, curated workouts,” Garner explains. “We saw what some other brands were doing in places that lead culture and thought, ‘Let’s experiment with things that are similar.’”

In 2023, the brand tested out “Freepotle,” an activation that gave rewards members access to up to 10 free food drops. And in the summer of 2025, the brand launched a three-month promotion called the “Summer of Extras,” which let rewards members earn extra points and special in-app badges for accomplishing certain milestones, like visiting multiple Chipotles in different states. An online leaderboard tracked how different superfans compared. 

Garner says the leaderboard became this “very immersive, competitive game for people,” resulting in a flood of mail to his inbox from customers participating in the challenge. It demonstrated what people—especially younger consumers—are increasingly looking for in rewards programs: not just an earn-and-burn system, but a gamified experience that felt like a quest. 

“As younger consumers are coming into the platform, that’s where we’re seeing a lot of the engagement,” Garner says. “That’s how we maintain that playful voice in Chipotle, still reward people, and make it fun, immersive, and active.”

Burrito quests and taco challenges

Based on those insights, the brand’s new rewards platform turns up the dial on gamification.

Whereas navigating to different elements of the rewards program used to be scattered in various places through Chipotle’s app, the whole platform is now located under one central tab. The first statistic that displays used to be a set number of points next to Chipotle’s logo. Now, it’s a progress bar that counts down to the user’s next reward (a tiny animation of sparkles appears when that quota is filled). 

“Extras,” which let users earn points and celebratory badges by completing specific challenges, were once only visible if users scrolled down the page. Now, they’ve been moved up above the fold so that users can immediately see which are active, and completed badges move to a colorful display at the bottom of the page. Rather than being available occasionally, extras will now be an always-on feature.

Garner says his team has been working on perfecting an AI algorithm that uses customers’ order history and interests to personalize their extras, badges, and homescreen offers—similar to a video game that presents new options based on past choices, so your recent orders open up new paths to future rewards.

“For instance, the double protein badge isn’t something that we would just present to somebody that’s never tried double protein before,” Garner says. “It’s a very effective way to say thank you to a guest that gets double protein all the time. It’s not just about building sales, it’s about building that affinity and engagement with the brand over time.”

The changes are simple, but, together, they make Chipotle’s rewards page feel less like a corporate exchange, and more like a personal burrito stat dashboard.

“We’re adding features and benefits across the board”

Beyond its new game-esque UX, the rewards update comes with quite a few new features that are getting to the core of Chipotle’s latest sales stagnation: cash-strapped customers. 

For starters, more wallet-friendly, high-protein options (like the $3.50 single taco and the new protein cup) will feature more prominently on the app’s homescreen. “We understand that people are price point sensitive, so the app is an example of giving folks the understanding that you can get a taco with 15 grams of protein in it for $3.50,” Garner says. Given Chipotle’s streamlined in-store menu design, he explains, customers might not even be aware that these smaller items are available. The app makes it possible to spotlight them without changing physical menus.

To further incentivize repeat visits, all new users will now get free chips and guac when they first join, and the number of points needed to redeem some items, like quesadillas and 50%-off entrees, will be lowered. Freepotle will return with monthly food drops, and points will expire after a full year rather than just six months. 

The whole relaunch is clearly designed to make Chipotle feel less like a luxury and more like a steal. For other restaurants in the fast-casual space, it’s a signal that reward program design is becoming a differentiator for customers who want to get the most out of their expendable income.

“Oftentimes, brands use a relaunch to rebalance points and take some things away from guests,” Garner says. “We’re taking nothing away in this relaunch. We’re adding features and benefits across the board, but there’s no takeback anywhere in the program.”

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