Introduction
Blackbird is emerging as one of the most unique consumer blockchain applications. In an era where many leading blockchain projects are focused on building infrastructure and developer tools, Blackbird stands out by aiming directly at consumers, with the potential to introduce cryptocurrency into the everyday lives of mainstream users.
This article delves into how Blackbird seeks to turn the elusive “holy grail” of cryptocurrency adoption into reality. We will first explore how Ben Leventhal’s extensive experience and insights into the restaurant industry inspired the creation of Blackbird.
Then, we will explain how the app benefits both end users and restaurant owners, and conclude by discussing how it represents a new paradigm for customer loyalty in the restaurant sector and beyond.
Reimagining the Dining Experience
Dining out with family and friends often conjures up images of the “traditional” restaurant experience—sitting down in a community-owned, independent restaurant and enjoying face-to-face service. However, the pandemic dramatically changed this landscape.
As lockdowns pushed many restaurants to close and takeout platforms surged in popularity, independent establishments faced financial hardships. By 2023, about 4,500 more restaurants had closed than opened, while fast-food sales outpaced dine-in restaurants by two times.
Amidst this shifting landscape, Blackbird aims to restore the magic of dining by reinvigorating the in-restaurant experience. Founded by Ben Leventhal, co-founder of Resy, Blackbird addresses the challenges independent restaurants face.
Over the last two decades, Ben has been at the forefront of restaurant tech, with his ventures including the restaurant blog Eater and the reservation platform Resy, both of which transformed how people discover and book restaurants. Blackbird is his latest endeavor, bringing the vision of Web3 dining to life.
With Blackbird, Ben takes the final step in connecting diners to restaurants through a digital loyalty system, offering value to both patrons and restaurant operators. It builds on his previous successes—Eater in the Web 1.0 era connected people to restaurants, while Resy in the Web 2.0 era allowed diners to book and manage reservations.
Blackbird now harnesses the potential of Web3 to forge deeper relationships between diners and restaurants through a programmable loyalty system.
How Blackbird Works
So, what exactly is Blackbird? At its core, it’s a user-friendly app that allows consumers to earn loyalty rewards when dining out. After downloading the app, users link their credit cards and can check in at partner restaurants by tapping their phones on a Blackbird tag to earn FLY loyalty points.
Blackbird then presents users with exclusive perks, discounts, and surprise gifts, such as free drinks, merchandise, or special offers.
Restaurants can customize their loyalty programs with perks for repeat customers. For example, a diner might receive a free drink on their second visit, a dessert on their fifth, or an extra omakase dish on their tenth. Additionally, restaurants can host Blackbird-exclusive events, like bi-weekly free coffee for members or seasonal passes offering exclusive dining deals.
One notable feature is Blackbird’s Breakfast Club pass, priced at $85, which gives members free coffee every morning for a year at 15 participating restaurants in New York. Similarly, the Blackbird Summer Pass, priced at $50, offers a free drink daily at several bars across the city.
For burger lovers, there’s the Burger Union pass, which provides a free weekly burger at nine different spots for $250.
This level of customization allows restaurant owners to engage their customers in unique ways. Consumers enjoy a novel dining experience, while restaurant operators gain flexibility in creating loyalty offerings that best suit their businesses.
Blackbird simplifies the complex world of data and loyalty management for restaurant owners. For a monthly subscription fee of $89, restaurants can collect and analyze customer data, creating comprehensive customer profiles based on four key components: personally identifiable information (PII), dining history, customer value score, and FLY point balance.
This system enables restaurants to tailor their loyalty programs and incentivize behaviors like data sharing, which earns customers additional FLY points.
Toward an On-Chain Loyalty Framework
One of Blackbird’s most exciting features is its potential to shape consumer behavior. Through restaurant discovery, loyalty points, and passes, the app encourages users to visit restaurants they might not have otherwise known about. Just like frequent flyer miles drive loyalty to specific airlines, FLY points steer diners toward participating restaurants.
But earning points is only half the equation. The real value lies in how customers can use those points, which brings us to Blackbird Pay—a payment system powered by FLY points. Recently, Blackbird introduced the ability to purchase FLY points using USDC, allowing users to pay for entire meals with their crypto balance.
With this, Blackbird has positioned itself not just as a loyalty app, but as the blueprint for a new, blockchain-based payment system.
By July 2024, Blackbird Pay allowed users to spend FLY points, with 1 FLY equivalent to 1 cent, effectively integrating a seamless crypto payment option for everyday dining. The app charges a 2% processing fee, significantly lower than the 4% charged by traditional payment processors, encouraging more restaurants to join the Blackbird network.
As the ecosystem expands, more consumers will establish loyalty to Blackbird-affiliated restaurants, further incentivizing FLY adoption. The long-term vision for Blackbird involves the development of “Flynet,” a proposed third-layer blockchain built on Base to support this growing payment and loyalty network. This blockchain would allow developers to create open-source tools for data visualization, restaurant discovery, and more.
By utilizing Web3 technologies, Blackbird aims to create a public, open-source, and community-driven loyalty framework that empowers independent operators across various sectors—restaurants, hotels, cosmetics, fashion, and travel alike.
Conclusion
Blackbird’s innovative approach to loyalty represents a new on-chain blueprint that could eventually bring cryptocurrency into mainstream use. By focusing on consumer behavior and offering real value to both diners and restaurant owners, Blackbird stands poised to become a key player in the evolving Web3 landscape, offering a solution that could revolutionize loyalty programs across multiple industries.
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