Taco Bell Guest Checkout Removal
Why We Removed Guest Checkout from the Taco Bell App
In 2024, we set out to improve the Taco Bell app by making the most of our digital loyalty program. That meant rethinking the guest checkout experience—and ultimately deciding it was time to phase it out.
Why? Guest checkout users were slipping through the cracks—missing out on rewards, exclusive offers, and personalized experiences. At the same time, the app was missing out on valuable insights into ordering behavior.
The goal:
•Grow the loyalty program
•Reduce cart abandonment
•Simplify checkout
•Create more personalized guest journeys
As product design lead, I collaborated with a product manager, data analyst, content strategist, and iOS and Android developers to implement a new loyalty-first checkout. For users who didn’t want to convert, we introduced a reroute to web checkout, ensuring a smooth experience while continuing to drive the loyalty program forward. While guest checkout still exists on the web (desktop and mobile), on the app, it's loyalty or bust.
Data-Driven Decisions
What we learned before making the change. I started by digging deep into our analytics. The idea wasn’t just to kill off a feature—it was to back every move with hard data.
🔍 Key Metrics Before the Change:
•88% of transactions came from loyalty users; only 12% from guests
•On iOS, only 2.2% of users tapped “Sign In” on the current Guest Checkout screen
•21.6% of guest users abandoned their carts on that same screen
So yeah, guest checkout wasn’t just underperforming—it was ghosting us.
🔍 Industry Check:
I scoped out 14 major QSR apps:
•9 gated guest checkout at the bag
•2 gated before the menu
•3 still let users fly under the radar
The takeaway? The industry was trending toward gating, and we had a chance to lead the pack with a more thoughtful approach.
Designing the Gating Experience
I explored different moments to introduce friction—and learned fast that timing was everything. Users were more willing to sign up after they’d built their cravings. So we gated the experience at the My Bag screen, not the menu.
We toyed with promoting tiered reward points (“Hot” = 10pts/$, “Fire” = 11pts/$), but the math got murky. Users couldn’t easily tell what they’d get—and how soon. So instead, we led with tangible food rewards (like a free Cantina Chicken Taco) to show instant value.
The move: Make the reward craveable, not just countable.
Engagement through motion
To sweeten the experience, I layered in subtle micro-animations:
•A shimmer over the CTA
•A soft bounce on the reward preview
•Smooth transitions between sign-in states
•Combined with full-bleed food photography, these enhancements created an immersive and delightfully Taco Bell moment—while guiding users toward conversion.
Results
Goodbye, guest checkout 👋
As of August 2024, guest checkout is officially disabled across both iOS and Android apps. Now, 100% of app traffic is filtered through loyalty or login flows.
Post-Launch Wins:
•+28% increase in loyalty sign-ups
•+7% increase in install-to-sign-up rate (from 48% → 55%)
CRM boost: New In-App Messages trigger when users add to cart, and a 10% abandoned cart offer rolled out shortly after
The Tradeoffs:
•-1.0% decrease in shop-to-conversion rate
•~1,250 weekly transactions lost from guest users (previously 125k per week)
User Sentiment:
•No major social media backlash
•89 complaints filed with customer care, mostly from users who didn’t want to sign up—but were redirected to web guest checkout.
Removing guest checkout wasn’t just about closing a door—it was about opening a better one. By making loyalty the default, we’re offering more value to users and learning more about them in return.
The phased rollout, backed by strong data and intentional design, gave us confidence that this wasn’t just a bold move—but the right one.
