[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
Email this story [5]Read More About
Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen launched a mobile-optimized site to help customers explore its menu on their smartphones and more easily find Popeyes locations.
Karlie Lahm, communications manager for Popeyes, says the new mobile-optimized site is part of a broader digital strategy, which she says aligns with the company’s “four-pillar” strategy of growth (build a distinct, relevant brand; run great restaurants; strengthen unit economics; and ramp up unit growth, according to the company).
“We took a look at what our goals were, and the main goal was to provide the consumers with information that they seek,” Lahm says. “We already know from our data that 11 percent of our customers who accessed our site were doing so from a mobile phone. So we knew we needed to do something to allow those people to get that information more readily.”
The mobile-optimized site includes Popeyes’ core menu, as well as a store locater, loyalty program details, nutritional data, and contact information. The goal was to keep it simple while offering the tools customers most used on the regular Popeyes website, Lahm says.
Lahm says the company explored the option of developing a Popeyes app for smartphones, but ultimately decided against it.
She cites data that shows 26 percent of apps are downloaded and used only once as reason not to roll an app out. An optimized mobile site also works on phones that allow Internet usage but not apps.
“If you’re on the road and you’re trying to get to a Popeyes, nothing is more frustrating than not being able to find one, and then that drives them somewhere else,” Lahm says. “We want to make sure we can help them follow through and show them where our restaurants are.”
Lahm says that now that mobile-optimized sites are becoming so popular, it’s well worth a company’s time to get on board with the mobile realm.
“The danger is if it becomes the norm, like a website, they could be left behind,” she says. “Once websites were the norm, now mobile sites are the norm. If we didn’t have an easy way for customers to find us, the danger is they go somewhere else.”
By Sam Oches
