According to this article by Lisa Jennings in Restaurant Business, Panera Bread is “hoping to foster a deeper emotional connection with loyalty members by giving them more choice of rewards.”
The fast-casual chain will allow guests to choose the rewards they want to earn from multiple options based on personal preferences, rather than the single, pre-selected rewards offered currently. The idea is to make rewards more relevant to deepen engagement with the program, which has 48 million members.
Reward choice is a core feature in all CarltonOne Engagement solutions, from loyalty to channel incentives and recognition. While we offer over 10 million rewards globally, our clients, partners and members value the depth and variety of rewards available in their local programs — from merchandise to gift cards, travel, mobile top-up, and charities.
https://www.restaurantbusinessonline.com/marketing/panera-bread-give-loyalty-members-more-choice