With domestic same-store sales down 8.7 percent in Q1 2026 from a year prior, Wingstop launched its first-ever loyalty platform, Club Wingstop, May 28, rolling out a rewards program specifically designed to break from the norm.
The Dallas-based chicken wing chain with more than 3,000 total locations rolled out Club Wingstop just over six months after CEO Michael Skipworth introduced the effort as bringing “a hyper-personalized digital experience to life in a way that only Wingstop can” during the company’s Q3 2025 earnings call.
Wingstop built its new loyalty program around the theme “Members eat first,” offering users a distinct sense of exclusivity through limited-edition merchandise, members-only events and special access to new menu offerings.
Club Wingstop emphasizes frictionless group ordering and social connection through seamless group ordering and the ability for users to send and receive loyalty points.
“Our fans go all in for Wingstop, and Club Wingstop is our way of rewarding that fandom,” Donnie Upshaw, Wingstop’s chief brand officer, said in a release. “This is bigger than points and perks. We’re building a community where our most loyal fans get access to cultural experiences only Wingstop can deliver, while creating more ways for people to come together, stay in and make Wingstop part of their shared moments.”
The launch of Club Wingstop comes at a time when more than 70 percent of quick-service restaurants offer loyalty programs, according to 2025 data from Restroworks. The points-sharing capability separates the new solution from the pack, placing Wingstop among only a few enterprise-level brands that offer such rewards flexibility, like Chick-fil-A, which lets users send rewards once they’ve achieved Silver, Red and Signature Member loyalty status.
Wingstop and Maura Higgins partnered for the launch of Club Wingstop, offering members exclusive access to “Maura-inspired essentials” June 1.
Club Wingstop continued the trend of using exclusive access to fan experiences and cultural moments to attract and reward users, providing users the chance to win seats at NBA games and suite tickets for WWE SummerSlam. This echoes similar experience-centered loyalty promotions from brands like Taco Bell, which awarded rewards members tickets to the Live Más Live event featuring live comedy and music in 2025 and 2026, and Dallas-based Ojos Locos Sports Cantina, which rolled out a new loyalty program in late 2025 with a grand prize of two tickets for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
In a move to further draw attention to the loyalty push, Wingstop partnered with reality star Maura Higgins on a very limited “Club in a Box” merchandise package. Available exclusively to Club Wingstop members, the bundle of “Maura-inspired essentials” easily sold out within a day of going live June 1, costing customers 94 cents for a bundle of merch including a green beret and bag scarf, a Wingstop serving tray, a Polaroid camera, custom matchboxes, a gift card and more.
“There’s always a club everyone wants to get into, and now it’s Club Wingstop,” Higgins said in a press release. “Coming from reality TV, I know how powerful loyalty can be. What I love about Club Wingstop is that it goes all in for the fans who go all in for Wingstop. I had so much fun curating Club in a Box to capture that iconic energy.”
When Skipworth mentioned Club Wingstop during the 2025 Q3 earnings call last November, the solution was discussed as part of a broader revamp of the brand’s tech and digital engagement, which he anticipated “will start to accelerate and position us to win more share of occasions in our demand space.”
