spin the business out as a separate company. “I came across this concept of game mechanics,” Carder said, “and why people are so fascinated with games—why they play and how challenges, the scoreboard, and rewards feed into it.”
With some 998,000 restaurants nationwide, and an estimated $760 billion spent in them annually, Carder said he reasoned, “If you could gamify the experience of eating out, you could create the most compelling loyalty program ever.”
He officially founded Mogl in 2011, incorporating gamification into a loyalty rewards program for restaurants by adding bigger incentives for those who use the program the most. Consumers who sign up for Mogl’s free rewards program can automatically get a 10 percent cashback reward by using a Mogl-registered credit or debit card to buy a meal at a participating Mogl restaurant. Users also are automatically enrolled in a contest that awards a monthly “jackpot” cash prize for the top three spenders at each participating restaurant. In September, Mogl said its members had earned more than $1 million in accumulated cash-back payments.
Carder said he also adopted the “one for one” business model made famous by Toms Shoes, so Mogl donates one meal to Feeding America for every $20 Mogl members spend at a Mogl restaurant. Mogl tracks the transactions and has gamified the results—so Mogl members can see how much cash back they have accrued in comparison to other Mogl members in general. Mogl members also can download a mobile app for iPhone or Android to track how well they’re racking up Mogl rewards, and to locate participating restaurants. Conversely, Mogl also offers data about customers to participating restaurants.
To enlist in
