Wendy’s is on track to reach over $2 billion in global digital sales this year, supported by investments in digital transformation, improvement of digital customer experience in app and restaurants, and ability to build personalized relationships with loyalty members.
Wendy’s Chief Information Officer (CIO) Matt Spessard is responsible for its global technology vision and leading technological innovation and development to drive growth, competitive brand advantage and revenue growth.
Capital expenditure of Wendy’s touched $17.4 million. Wendy’s said its digital sales grew >30 percent, accelerating digital sales mix to ~17 percent in the first-quarter. Wendy’s does not reveal its investment in digital transformation.
Wendy’s has reported profit of $42 million (up 5.5 percent) on revenue of $534.8 million (up 1.1 percent) during the first quarter of 2024.
“This was driven in part by high-single digit year-over-year U.S. breakfast sales growth and global digital sales mix of nearly 17 percent. This performance supported a 60 basis point expansion in U.S. company-operated restaurant margin versus the prior year, illustrating the benefits of these profitable initiatives,” Wendy’s CEO Kirk Tanner said announcing its financial result.
In 2024, Wendy’s aims at opening approximately 250 to 300 new restaurants as part of its strategy to ensure profitable growth.
Wendy’s is in the process of reviewing its business in order to deliver profitable growth over the short and long term. Those plans will be centered on three things: First, driving strong same-restaurant sales growth in all restaurants, including momentum in digital channel; Second, a significant acceleration in global net unit growth; and Three, unlocking improvements in restaurant-level profitability.
Wendy’s said international segment grew to over 20 percent digital sales mix with strong digital adoption continuing in the U.K., Canada, and much of APMEA region. In the U.S., Wendy’s drove meaningful increases in mobile order and delivery channels, growing total digital sales by over 15 percent versus the prior quarter, and 35 percent.
Wendy’s has revealed digital sales mix each month of the quarter for an average of over 16 percent. Its digital momentum resulted from the success of March Madness programming, which highlighted fresh, never-frozen beef, alongside compelling offers within mobile app. This led to an increase in monthly active users to over 6 million at quarter end, up over 40 percent versus Q4. Wendy’s rewards members also increased to over 40 million, illustrating that digital efforts are resonating with customers.
This growth drives the restaurant economic model and progress across breakfast and digital supported a 60-basis-point increase in U.S. company-operated restaurant margin to 15.3 percent.
Wendy’s says it put a big effort to do 360 advertising around this digital platform. Wendy’s sees this as a positive tool to create this loyalty and engagement allows it to understand customer better. Wendy’s will be making more investment in app because digital orders are large orders.
Baburajan Kizhakedath
