Church’s Chicken Customer Relevance Get With-It

 

Maintaining customer relevance is not as easy as it seems at most chain restaurants.  Yes, there are cost involved and there is always someone saying no that cost too much.  So, according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® there are many times chain restaurants go from falling a ’little’ behind to a ‘lot’ behind.  Consumers are dynamic brands must be as well.

Here is a story two years in the making; nearly two years since Church’s Chicken first embarked on a digital transformation focused on reaching new guests with digital media and creating loyalty with engaging experiences at every interaction, all in order to garner incremental customer relevance,

So, guess what? Since they began down the digital path, digital has been a key driver of the brand’s positive sales and growth, with 2020 turning in impressive results from this key focus area. Church’s Chicken saw a 540 percent increase in Order Ahead sales in 2020 compared to the previous year, third-party delivery sales increased by 77 percent in the same period, and web digital conversion rate reached 16 percent.  Johnson say’s strategy focused on customer relevant touchpoints wins.

Alan Magee, Vice President of Digital Marketing & Technology for Church’s stated, “The digital success we are seeing now is because of plans and initiatives first put in place in 2019,” … “The industry has been shifting to a digital-first approach over time and the pandemic has only accelerated this consumer behavior. Church’s digital transformation allowed us to pivot quickly in response to COVID-19 and we even ended the year with six months of consecutive positive sales as a result. Our investment in building both integrated and consumer focused digital platforms continues to allow us to thrive as a brand”

So, at the end of 2020 marked the completion of multiple initiatives all aimed at sales growth, market presence, and operational efficiencies. Let’s take a look at the Highlights:

Relaunch of Churchs.com with a focus on mobile optimization

Nearly 85 percent of guests engage with the brand on a mobile device. A new website, channel strategy, and mobile welcomer (location finder) were rolled out to help guests go from first impression to desired action within three clicks.

Since launching the mobile welcomer, conversion increased 27 percent among mobile users

There has been a 295 percent positive growth in digital restaurant engagements 

CRM Platform Relaunch:

In addition to the revamped web experience, Church’s also made dramatic enhancements to its new mobile app, email platform, and launched a new customer database in order to create more personalized and dynamic communications.

Active loyalty engagement increased by 40 percent in 2020

Expanded Social Media Presence

A new social media playbook, with a focus on community engagement with loyal fans, micro-influencers, and in-market engagement campaigns broadened Church’s footprint across the social media landscape.

Fan engagement grew 63 percent year-over-year between 2019 and 2020

Impressions were up 146 percent from 2019

Church’s successfully executed three engagement campaigns – Drive Thru Graduation, Camp Smokehouse Backyard Giveaways and, most recently, the Church’s Chicken Sandwich Truck

Expansion of E-commerce (Church’s To Go)

Church’s added Google Ordering and Curbside Pick-up to its existing Order Ahead and Drive-Thru options.

Third-party delivery expanded to a total of eight brand partners live in nearly 90% of domestic locations, offering additional reach and faster speed of service

Together, these efforts produced an 87 percent increase in off premise revenue year over year.

One of the significant points within the transformation was the Church’s mobile app. Magee and the digital team performed an end-to-end overhaul to include more robust functionality. Guests can now make contact-free pick up orders, access exclusive app-only promotions, and save favorites for easy re-ordering. Because of this, Church’s saw an uptick in adoption among GenZ and Millennial audiences, particularly following the launch of the new Church’s Chicken Sandwich.

“Most importantly, we translated our increased digital position into sales,” adds Magee. “That is a critical benchmark for us as the digital space becomes more crowded and competitive. We’re out to grow our customer base in ways that drive traffic and create loyalty, because it’s ultimately the experience of Church’s quality food and authentic hospitality that makes people Church’s fans for life.”

Consumers are dynamic brands must be as well. Do you have strategy focused that is focused on customer relevant touchpoints of today or yesterday? Are you looking a customer ahead?

Invite Foodservice Solutions® to complete a Grocerant ScoreCard, or for product positioning or placement assistance, or call our Grocerant Guru®.  Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche. Contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or 253-759-7869