This Fast-Food Chain Just Beat McDonald's for Best Value
According to a new consumer engagement survey from William Blair, one restaurant chain is considered the best value for money: Chicago street food chain Portillo's. While other fats-food chains are trying to win back customers through extreme value meal competition, Portillo's is playing the long game.
"Portillo's does not play the discount game," CEO Michael Osanloo said, via QSR Magazine. "We compete on great everyday pricing for our craveable food and abundant portions, and we know this approach will benefit us in the medium and long term."
The cult-favorite restaurant has 90 locations nationwide and focuses on long-term affordability for customers. Instead of making guests use an app, Portillo's gives guests a loyalty card which is essentially a smartphone digital wallet. "They know where that is, they know how to access it," says Chief Information and Digital Transformation Officer Keith Correia. "For a lot of other apps that customers use for loyalty, you have to go to the app store, you have to download the app, you have to find the app when you go into a specific venue that you like, and there's some friction with that, and it's cumbersome."
The brand is also focused on more kiosks, smaller stores, and faster drive-thrus instead of trying to compete in the "value wars". By scanning their digital card every time they visit Portillo's, guests can get access to special offers and more.
"It's right there in their wallet. They know how to get to it. They can get to it quickly. And the benefit for us is we can message them there and we can make it really easy for them to transact with us and use that loyalty benefit. And that's where we come in with the communication process that is personalized for them," Correia says. "So as they visit us, as they get badges, we communicate with them, we give them special offers. We may invite them to try an LTO or a new product, and we can surprise and delight them."
The more a customer visits Portillo's, the better the digital card will be able to streamline special offers based on their orders and preferences. "We will use data over time to drive the timing and the relevance of these offers so they become more and more material to our guests and incentivize them to visit and that's where we get the incremental transactions and the value of the program for us. And so, we're really excited about this program," Correia says.
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