Customer proof on record
How BBQ Chicken achieved 200,000 sign-ups in under 10 months with Spendgo
- Customer on record
- BBQ Chicken
- Vendor on record
- Spendgo
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Proofmap summary
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BBQ Chicken, a hospitality brand, implemented Spendgo to launch a new loyalty program. According to its Senior Manager of Marketing, Andrew Lee, the company achieved "200,000 sign-ups in under 10 months" due to the "ease of customer acquisition using the phone number." The brand also reports an "18% lift in average ticket volume" for members and cut traditional marketing "by 90%" by sending SMS text messages.
Approved quotes
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Showing all 20 quotes
- Background
Self Intro
“Hi, my name is Angel. I'm the Senior Manager of Marketing at BBQ Chicken.”
- Background
Brand History & Global Scale
“BBQ Chicken, a Korean Fried Chicken brand, started in South Korea back in 1995. We are one of the largest brands coming out of South Korea and one of the biggest exporters of Korean Fried Chicken around the world.”
- Background
US Market Entry & Rapid Growth
“BBQ Chicken entered the US market back in 2016 and saw a high level of growth due to the high interest in Korean cuisine and culture. We saw our store count grow, especially during the COVID era. For three consecutive years, we were named one of the fastest-growing restaurants by Nation's Restaurant News.”
- Background
Growth Metrics
“According to data points from Technomic's, looking into the 500 largest restaurant brands in the United States, BBQ Chicken was named one of the fastest-growing restaurants for three consecutive years by unit count and by revenue.”
- Results
Why Toast POS was Selected
“We evaluated a range of POS companies. We needed a system that was very user-friendly for our US franchisees. Toast POS was the easiest for our franchisees to grasp the basic fundamentals of operation. It also eased our day-to-day management of menu management and sales analysis, and it was the right platform for us to expand our digital ecosystem, from digital online ordering to gift cards and eventually a loyalty program.”
- How they use it
Unifying Tech Stack for Franchisees
“In the early days, we were using four different credit card processors, and the POS system was all over the place. Part of the reasoning for getting a new system was that we wanted to unify the restaurant technology under one roof. We needed the easiest solution for franchisees to onboard. For us, having that empowerment of the franchisee was very important, and Toast was the easiest and most user-friendly solution for our multicultural franchisees to adopt.”
- Results
Toast Selection: Scalability & User-Friendliness
“We selected Toast because we already had a deep understanding of what it takes to scale a restaurant brand into a multi-location franchise model, having operated more than 2,000 locations in South Korea. Toast came in first to fit the requirements for scalability and was very user-friendly for our franchisees in the US market.”
- Before
Loyalty Timing & Focus on First-Party
“We were operating Toast for about four years before we fully moved on to a loyalty project. It was an early stage for our brand; we were opening about 40 locations a year, doing more than 100% growth every year. Initially, we focused on customer acquisition and making it easy for franchisees to book delivery orders. Then we focused on building our first-party ordering platform. Once our brand came out of the introduction phase, we decided it was time to look into loyalty and find a partner to fill out the pieces.”
- Before
Digital Strategy & Loyalty Goal
“Prior to Spendgo, we laid out a long-term digital strategy. In 2020, delivery became a big thing, so we tackled how to consolidate all these orders. Next, we moved onto first-party ordering. Our ultimate goal was launching a loyalty program that was easy to use for the franchisee level. Our priority was rapid expansion, but eventually, we decided we needed to offer a best-in-class solution for our consumers and franchisees.”
- Results
Phone Number Loyalty & Acquisition
“For restaurant brands, the loyalty platform almost plays as the ultimate local store marketing tool because you can set up discounts and send email or SMS notifications. We wanted a loyalty program that was the best solution for the franchisee and acted as a local store marketing tool. For the consumer side, simple is the best. We focused on acquisition: what's the easiest way for them to sign up? We wanted a similar experience to checking out at retail where you sign up with your phone number. That's where Spendgo hit our criteria. No one forgets their phone number; it was the best way to acquire a customer because the phone number is the gold mine data at this point.”
- How they use it
Rapid Growth & Frictionless Adoption
“With the rapid growth we're still seeing today, our top priority was finding a loyalty solution that didn't jeopardize the growth momentum—something very easy for us to deploy and for the consumer to adapt. Spendgo happened to be the best one because it's very similar to the retail experience that goes by the phone number. It comes very natural for our consumer to sign up. Even though we launched the program a little under a year ago, we saw sign-up numbers shy of 200,000, which is a remarkable achievement. It is definitely faster loyalty member acquisition than what we've seen elsewhere.”
- Background
Company Structure
“We're using Toast as the basis. We have a little shy of 100 employees for HQ.”
- How they use it
Simple, Effective Loyalty Solution
“With the rapid growth we were experiencing as a brand, we didn't want to slow down or jeopardize our growth momentum. We were looking for a loyalty solution that was very simple to use and very effective to deploy, and that's where Spendgo came in.”
- Results
Doubling Loyalty Sign-ups Goal
“With the rapid growth we were experiencing, we wanted to continue the momentum. What we liked about Spendgo is the phone number identification, which is very similar to the retail experience. There wasn't any hurdle from a consumer perspective to get used to the new loyalty program. We were expecting to have 100,000 sign-ups for the first year, but we were able to achieve 200,000 sign-ups in under 10 months, which we were very impressed with.”
- Results
18% Higher Average Check Volume
“The benefit of using Spendgo for the ease of customer acquisition using the phone number was that we achieved 200,000 sign-ups in under 10 months. By structuring a menu strategy around the loyalty program, we were able to see an 18% lift in average ticket volume for members versus non-members. This was achieved because of Spendgo's royalty expert consultation during the onboarding process and the seamless integration between Toast POS and Spendgo, which allowed us to offer a lot more than we were hoping for.”
- Results
90% Reduction in Traditional Marketing Cost
“A fully mature loyalty program takes 18 to 24 months for adaptation. We are very happy to see our adoption level almost at 10%, despite the rapid growth we're seeing year over year. Since we started collecting SMS phone numbers with Spendgo's local marketing tool functionality, we were able to send out a text message for a fraction of the cost of sending out a flyer. We almost got rid of flyers. After we implemented Spendgo's local store marketing functionality, we were able to cut traditional marketing, such as sending out a flyer, by 90% because now we simply send out an SMS text message, which is a fraction of the cost. What we like about working with Toast POS is that we can focus on what we are good at—spreading the finest fried chicken—and through their API partner program, we can implement functionality very quickly. For Spendgo, we pitted them against some big names. We really like the compact team we work with; we get started immediately. If I literally pick up the phone today, I can get an answer within 3 to 5 minutes, which is crucial for a brand like us trying to do a lot of things while growing. We are very satisfied with Spendgo's customer service, their team's dedication, and their willingness to share their know-how.”
- Results
Expert Consultation & Partnership
“The Spendgo team are very talented, very seasoned experts. Sometimes working with other partners, you may not get the same level of support. I was not expecting to speak with someone with more than 15 or 20 years of experience on a daily basis. They really walked me through building a very successful loyalty program when launching it in a completely new market, the US market.”
Marketing to US Consumers
“People are very self-conscious about healthy diets or the ingredients that come in. We've almost perfected our communication marketing method and built our product profile to satisfy those demands. The US has a different way of communicating with consumers, and that's where a lot of international brands have a hard time when they enter the US market. We are doing communication through a cultural ideology and a unique experience. Hopefully, with our genuine and the right way to market our products, we become the brand people say, "I want to go eat BBQ Chicken."”
- Results
Simplifying Tech Stack Increases Sales 20-45%
“As a marketer, we can get swayed by bells and whistles, but consumers look for convenience. We need to implement technology that makes it easy for the consumer to order food and use loyalty. The critical thing for us is: Is it easy for consumers to use and remember? In Korea, they focus on functionality and features, but in the US, we focus on how we can shepherd the customer journey and experience, and how easy they can do XYZ, because convenience is everything. When our HQ handled the Hawaii market with their own tech stack, they were doing $70,000 a month. When the US digital stack took over, they hit $90,000—a 20% difference. In Washington State, sales went up 45%. Changing the POS system and online ordering ecosystem makes a huge difference in revenue.”
US Franchise Market Maturity
“The American franchise market is the benchmark standard for the international market. The US franchise system is very mature and structured. We had a vast experience in IT and technological space in Korea, but in the US, we needed the right partner to work with to understand the American market and localize our systems. Toast has been a great partner to work with.”