Article

Chick-fil-A 'moo-oves' consumers, even in the dog days of summer

Starbucks, Subway and Chick-Fil-A reported solid traffic numbers for the month of August, according to research and insights firm, Sense 360.

September 14, 2016 by S.A. Whitehead — Food Editor, Net World Media Group

Starbucks, Subway and Chick-Fil-A reported solid traffic numbers for the month of August, according to research and insights firm, Sense 360.

The award for closest race for the month should go to Starbucks and Subway, who went neck-and-neck throughout all of August for the No. 2 slot in the quick-service visits race. Ultimately, Starbucks overtook Subway by one-hundredth of a percentage point in market share at month’s end to gain the second place slot, while Subway dropped down to No. 3 for the month, according to the report.

The rest of the top 10 spots remained in the same positions as they held in July, except in the cases of the No. 9 and 10 slots, which saw Chipotle dropping down to No. 10 and Carl’s Jr. taking a step up to No. 9 for the month. Other notable observations from this month’s report include: 
•    Chick-Fil-A continues to moo-ove up thanks to marketing efforts like Cow Appreciation Day: 
This chain’s efforts with its recently launched loyalty app, new menu items and, of course, Cow Appreciation Day, all worked together to move the brand forward as a whole, allowing Chick-fil-A to hoof it forward 12 spots in brand loyalty rankings, from No. 26 to No. 14. 

•    It may have been the Dog Days, but customers still want their coffee: 
For frequency and loyalty rankings, coffee was king with McDonald’s, Starbucks, Tim Horton’s and Dunkin’ Donuts taking places as four of the most frequently visited coffee destinations. 
•    Three brands actually increased market share: 
Jack in the Box, Del Taco and Church's Chicken all moved up in market share rankings for the month of August. 

Aside from those notable changes in the rankings during the last official month of summer vacation, McDonald’s remained No. 1 in all four metrics monitored by Sense 360, including market share, visit frequency, loyalty and brand draw. Likewise, Del Taco landed in the August top 30 for national market share, which Sense 360 reports is in part due to the chain’s improved performance in the Los Angeles market.

Chick-fil-A also moved into the top 10 for visit frequency and brand draw, while also soaring up from No. 26 in customer loyalty to No. 14. Sense 360 also reports that regional brands are performing well in brand draw these days, comparatively. All this as an NPD Group study released Tuesdayshows that overall restaurant sector traffic was down sharply the first part of this year during lunch, a key money-maker for food service. The research group found, however, that traditional quick-service restaurants failed to experience the massive lunch decline noted in other categories of food service, especially fast casual. 

Sense 360 analyzes data on more than 150 million consumer trips monthly to compile its rankings, which are intended to give restaurateurs a look at how they and their competition are performing. 

About S.A. Whitehead

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Pizza Marketplace and QSRweb editor Shelly Whitehead is a former newspaper and TV reporter with an affinity for telling stories about the people and innovative thinking behind great brands.