News

Chipotle sees 10% sales lift after digitizing customer experience

June 12, 2019

Chipotle has seen quite a sales lift since digitizing its customer experience.

The chain, which recently tapped Sparkfly to help it launch a loyalty program, in-restaurant technology intelligence and frictionless online ordering, reported that total sales increased nearly 10% from the first quarter of 2018, to the first quarter of 2019, and that digital sales were growing by 100.7% from the prior year. Additionally, 15.7% of first-quarter sales were made up by digital sales.

"Just as we are committed to using high-quality, real ingredients in our restaurants, we knew using top-tier technology providers was critical to the success of our digital experience," Curt Garner, chief technology officer of Chipotle, said in a company press release. "Sparkfly allows us to dynamically interface with both in-store and above-store technology and provides all of the capabilities we need to meet our long-term goals."

Chipotle, which partnered with Sparkfly in 2017, has implemented the following digital initiatives:

• Chipotle Rewards
  Through a single-scan technology at the POS, Chipotle can collect transactional data, apply loyalty rewards and process personalized discounts received through any form of media or distribution channel.
• Mobile app campaigns
  The chain can make all offers available directly to customers in their Chipotle mobile wallet, which can be used seamlessly in-store, online and via in-app ordering.
• In-restaurant technology intelligence
  Sparkfly’s POS middleware powers Chipotle’s single-scan technology and enables the real-time communication of all transactional data to other marketing and analytics technologies.
• Valuable offer strategy
  Sparkfly powers digital promotions that market menu innovations and leverage new media channels and partners.
• Frictionless online ordering
  Chipotle customers can redeem an online offer with a single click, reducing cart abandonment. Beyond that, Sparkfly streamlines Chipotle’s promotion capabilities by enabling a single platform that manages all offers being redeemed through the online ordering platform or at the in-store POS, according to the release.