Quick Results
79% of all issued points redeemed
80% active loyalty participation rate
77% repeat loyalty participation rate
20+ restaurant locations connected to a single app-based program
About Hawaii Poké
Founded in 2016, Hawaii Poké has grown into Sweden's leading poke bowl brand, with more than 20 restaurants across Stockholm, Gothenburg, Malmö, Uppsala, and Arlanda Airport. The brand serves fresh, customizable poke bowls and warm bowls inspired by Hawaiian flavors, alongside a dedicated kids' menu and a catering business serving offices and events. Hawaii Poké has built its identity around fresh, healthy, and tasty food served quickly, bringing a taste of island cuisine to Sweden's biggest cities.
The Challenge
Fast-casual dining lives and dies on habit. A customer who tries Hawaii Poké once has enjoyed a single great bowl, but the brand's long-term success depends on that customer choosing Hawaii Poké again and again over the dozens of other lunch options available in any Swedish city center. With 20-plus locations spread across five different regions, Hawaii Poké also needed a way to recognize and reward customers consistently no matter which restaurant they happened to visit.
Without a structured loyalty mechanism, Hawaii Poké had no formal way to convert first-time visitors into regulars, or to give its most loyal customers a reason to keep choosing Hawaii Poké over a competing lunch spot on a day-to-day basis.
The Turning Point
Hawaii Poké's team recognized that the brand's tropical, laid-back identity offered a natural foundation for a loyalty program that felt distinctive rather than generic. Rather than a standard points scheme, the team wanted something that carried the same Hawaiian-inspired spirit as the food itself, and that worked seamlessly through the app customers were already using to order.
The goal was to build a program that rewarded every purchase in a way that felt tangible and easy to track, while giving the brand's most frequent customers a clear path to climb toward better and better benefits.
Why They Chose Leat
Hawaii Poké chose Leat to power the Wave Rider program because it could integrate directly into the Hawaii Poké app, where the majority of customer orders were already being placed. This meant joining the loyalty program, earning points, and tracking progress toward the next reward all happened in the same place customers were already using to order their bowls, with no separate card or login required. Leat's flexibility also supported a three-tier structure with escalating benefits, giving Hawaii Poké a clear framework to reward its most loyal customers more generously the longer they stayed engaged.
The Strategy
Step 1: Building a Loyalty Identity Around Waves
Hawaii Poké named its loyalty program Wave Rider and built its entire points system around the concept of Waves, earning 5 Waves for every Swedish krona spent. This naming decision tied the mechanics of the program directly to the brand's Hawaiian, ocean-inspired identity, making the act of earning points feel like a natural extension of the Hawaii Poké brand rather than an arbitrary points system layered on top of it.
Step 2: Converting Points into Tangible, Usable Rewards
Rather than relying on an abstract points balance, Hawaii Poké built the program around an automatic, easy-to-understand conversion: every 2,500 Waves earned becomes a 25 SEK bonus coupon, available directly at checkout in the app. Customers can use these coupons immediately or save them up toward a free poké bowl, giving every member flexibility in how they choose to use their rewards. Members also receive special gift codes, offers, and campaigns sent directly via email or credited to their app account, giving the brand additional ways to surprise and re-engage members beyond the core earning mechanic.
Step 3: Building Three Tiers to Reward the Most Frequent Riders
Wave Rider was structured around three membership levels, bronze, silver, and gold, each unlocking progressively better benefits as members earn more Waves. Every tier comes with its own set of perks, ranging from special offers and discounts to birthday deals and bonus Waves, giving members a clear incentive to keep climbing rather than plateauing after their first few visits. This tiered structure gave Hawaii Poké's most frequent customers meaningfully better treatment than occasional visitors, reinforcing the value of consistent loyalty over time.
The Results
The Wave Rider program has driven exceptionally strong engagement across Hawaii Poké's customer base.
79% of all issued points redeemed, an outstanding redemption rate that reflects a program where rewards are genuinely used rather than left to accumulate unclaimed
80% active loyalty participation rate among all program members
77% repeat loyalty participation rate, with more than three-quarters of members returning to earn or redeem again
The 79% redemption rate is a particularly strong indicator of program health. In many loyalty programs, a meaningful share of earned points are never redeemed, representing value left on the table for both the customer and the brand. At Hawaii Poké, the vast majority of points issued are being put to use, suggesting that the automatic coupon conversion and the simplicity of the Wave Rider app experience are removing the friction that typically causes points to go unused.
Key Takeaways
Automatic, tangible conversions drive exceptional redemption rates.
By automatically converting Waves into usable bonus coupons rather than requiring customers to navigate a complex redemption process, Hawaii Poké made it easy for members to actually use what they'd earned, contributing directly to a 79% redemption rate.
A loyalty program's name and currency can carry a brand's identity.
By calling points "Waves" and building the entire program around the Wave Rider concept, Hawaii Poké made the mechanics of the program feel inseparable from its Hawaiian-inspired brand, rather than a generic points system that could belong to any restaurant.
Remove friction at the moment it matters most.
By building Wave Rider directly into the same app customers use to order, Hawaii Poké ensured that joining, earning, and redeeming all happened in one seamless experience, without requiring a separate card, login, or system to manage.
