CRM for Everyone – A Case Study of KFC CRM
AmRest, an operator of casual dining and fast food restaurants across Europe, which operates the KFC outlets in the region, was struggling to encourage diners to patronize its KFC outlets. Hence, it decided to redesign its marketing strategy.
As a part of this strategy, in late 2015, AmRest decided to offer free Wi-Fi to its customers across its 548 KFC outlets in the UK hoping to attract customers. Signing into Wi-Fi at a KFC outlet required patrons to sign in at the landing page, and this information was stored in a database for the company to inform users about special discounts and promotions.
In addition to this data collection, KFC also rolled out a loyalty program through the KFC Colonel’s Club mobile app that is developed by LoyaltyPlant, a developer of mobile apps for loyalty programs for restaurants, to make optimal usage of its CRM system. The interface of the app enables users to see the menu, locate KFC outlets near them, participate in bonus programs, use digital coupons, give feedback, and the like. It gives them stamps based on the food they buy at a KFC outlet. Moreover, the points-based system offered by the app enables the company to communicate with different customers as per their past behavior. It provides them information about where their customers live and which outlets & menu items they prefer the most. As per this information, they are in a position to make limited-time offers on menu items purchased by them during their last few visits. The app also encourages them to visit or order-in from the KFC outlets nearest to them. Furthermore, the app is linked to the POS technology of various outlets, which enables the sales teams to chat with customers through text messages and address them with their first names.
According to an article published on Destination CRM, since its introduction in 2015, the KFC Colonel’s Club mobile app has shown the following results by 2017:
- 5 percent of the population in participating cities has downloaded the app
- 25 percent of customers use the app during their visit to KFC outlets
- An outlet that used the app reported a 12% increase in revenue increase as compared to another outlet that did not
- A select high-performing location reported incremental marginal profit of $16,736 in.
According to a study published on the NCBI in 2017, there were over 7 billion mobile users worldwide in 2016, and this number is increasing exponentially every year owing to the growing popularity of smartphones. KFC CRM software can capitalize on this aspect as they can encourage customers as well as potential customers to download their apps, through which they can mine customer data to grow their business.