Sonic To Implement "Point-Of-Personalization Service" System
By Megan Zielinski, contributing writer
Sonic, nation’s largest chain of drive-in service restaurants, announced during third fiscal quarter results, that all company restaurants will include new “point-of-personalization service” system by the end of summer, and begin expanding to franchises in September, improving restaurant productivity, connecting to customers by leveraging personalized promotions and menu recommendations, and driving growth in sales.
After two years of development and undergoing testing for over a year in 65 select restaurants, Sonic began rolling-out the POPS systems in April, with nearly half of company-owned restaurants utilizing the systems now. The new POPs systems will be integrated with the company’s new POS systems, installed in all restaurants as of May. The updated, advanced POS systems are a replacement of the drive-in’s 40-year-old platform. The new technology allows for stream-line order processing, cuts down on wasted food, enhances labor allocation, and decreases theft risks. “We expect to see improved margins and revenue from the implementation as we roll this out across our system,” Sonic chairman, chief executive and president J. Clifford Hudson said in January, during discussion of first-quarter earnings. Because of Sonic’s drive-in atmosphere, the inclusion of the personalized service is a perfect fit as customers spend most of their time eating in the comfort of their vehicle on their mobile devices—the POPS system is a way for Sonic to deliver personalized messages, special deals and loyalty perks from the new platform straight to customer’s devices. “We will have greater identification of the specific customer on premises in many cases before they pay for their food and certainly before they leave the lot. This will put us in a position to have one-to-one personalized marketing,” said Hudson.
Sonic has been experiencing positive company gains as a result of new marketing initiatives such as Sonic’s engaging media, development of innovative products, including unique options in Sonic’s “Summer of Shakes” program, the company enhancing menu selections for all day-parts, use of Integrated Customer Engagement (ICE) model, and the new POS system—Sonic experienced a 15 percent growth of earnings per share with same store sales increasing by 5.3 percent for third fiscal quarter, ended May 31.