The story
Built on color. Backed by collectors.
Made in Newell, West Virginia, Fiesta Tableware is one of America’s most recognizable dinnerware brands, with a devoted collector community spanning the country. Fiesta is known for its bold colorways, frequent product line introductions, and retired pieces that fetch hundreds of dollars on the secondary market.
As a direct-to-consumer business, Fiesta operates fiestafactorydirect.com on Shopify and partners with Smile to power Plate Pal Perks, the loyalty program at the center of its DTC strategy.
The challenge
Competing for their own customers
When it came to building a rewards and loyalty program, Fiesta Tableware had two missions. The first was to encourage consumers to buy directly from Fiesta’s website rather than from third-party retailers. The second was to attract new customers and introduce them to the world of Fiesta beyond the established collector base.
As a well-established brand with collector groups around the country, Fiesta products can be found through other retailers and on eBay, where retired pieces sell for hundreds of dollars more. Because Fiesta regularly introduces and retires product lines, that scarcity creates real exclusivity and demand. The team needed a loyalty program that could capture both audiences, the seasoned collectors and new customers, and bring them under one tent so Fiesta could own its community and build a direct relationship with the buyers who love its brand.
Our goal was to capture new customers who aren’t collectors, bring them into the website, have them buy a product, and get them entrenched in the brand.
The solution
Sold out in minutes
Fiesta Tableware launched Plate Pal Perks in February 2024 with four VIP tiers, named after Fiesta’s own product hierarchy: Coaster, Salad Plate, Luncheon Plate, and Dinner Plate. As customers move up through the tiers, they earn perks ranging from $5 off rewards to a 25% discount at the top tier. The structure rewards loyal collectors while giving newer customers a clear, aspirational ladder to climb.
Personalization is central to Fiesta’s online experience, and the VIP tiers give the team a clear way to segment customers and tailor the right product marketing to the right audience. When Fiesta found itself sitting on surplus inventory of a specific product, instead of heavily discounting it on the website, the team segmented its top point earners and emailed them an exclusive offer. The products sold out in minutes.
What Plate Pal Perks gave the Fiesta team:
- Four VIP tiers (Coaster, Salad Plate, Luncheon Plate, Dinner Plate) with desirable rewards and aspirational perks
- Segmented email campaigns to top point earners that move surplus inventory in minutes
- A direct relationship with collectors and new customers in one program, on Fiesta’s own site
- A repeatable playbook for product launches, new colorways, and retired-line drops
- Real-time visibility into program performance and the customers driving incremental revenue
The program
Plate Pal Perks
Launched February 2024.
01
Coaster
02
Salad Plate
03
Luncheon Plate
04
Dinner Plate
Perks range from $5 off rewards to a 25% discount at the top tier.
The results
Small days are bigger. Big days are bigger.
Since launching Plate Pal Perks, Fiesta Tableware has seen a meaningful shift in daily traffic, sales, and conversion. Smile-influenced orders are up an average of 32% month over month.
The program has also become a leading indicator for new product launches. On Fiesta’s most recent launch, the team exceeded its historical sales number by 20%. When they pulled the data in Shopify, the customers driving the lift were Plate Pal Perks members coming in to make additional purchases.
We are able to say, hey, who are our top point earners, email just them, say ‘limited quantities,’ and they sold out in 10 minutes. We offer products, deals, and customized experiences that we never would have done without Smile.
Why Smile
Built for loyalty. Built for Shopify.
Fiesta’s success with Plate Pal Perks is a story about owning the customer relationship. Smile gave the team the tools to bring collectors and new buyers into one program, segment them by behavior, and run targeted campaigns that move product without resorting to sitewide discounts that erode brand value.
