3 days ago
Chipotle drives more customers to loyalty program as comparable sales slide
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Dive Brief:
Chipotle's emphasis on digital experience is paying off for its loyalty program, executives said on a Q2 2025 earnings call Wednesday.
Digital sign-ups for the loyalty program increased 14% year-over-year, boosted by the launch of the 'Summer of Extras' gamified program, CEO Scott Boatwright said.
The fast-casual restaurant chain also updated its app to provide a more seamless experience with personalized offers.
Dive Insight:
Despite success in digital, Chipotle saw a 4% decline in comparable sales during the quarter, continuing a streak of negative same-store sales that began last quarter.
The fast-casual restaurant was hit by consumer sentiment and confidence 'bottoming out' in May, CFO Adam Rymer said.
Still, revenue increased 3% year over year to $3.1 billion, according to its earnings report. Digital sales made up 35.5% of total sales.
As the company looks to return to mid-single-digit comparable sales, Chipotle must execute across five strategies, including delivering an exceptional digital experience, Boatwright said.
Creating an end-to-end frictionless user experience within the app drives the top of the funnel, while the loyalty program encourages repeat spend.
'To drive more people into our loyalty program, we are ramping up our enrollment campaigns and signage, both in restaurant and digitally,' Boatwright said.
Executives are encouraged by results from Summer of Extras, a three-month gamified experience with extra points, badges and prizes. The program targets low-frequency users, the cohort of customers Boatwright sees 'most at risk.' The program drove more people into the rewards program and increased their frequency and spend year over year.
'The Summer of Extras promotion really engaged that consumer in a meaningful way and caused them to transact with us more frequently over June, July,' he said.
Chipotle is planning another program to target college students in the fall and is taking the lessons learned from Summer of Extras to potentially inform an evergreen program.
About 20 million rewards members are active or have made a transaction at least once in the past year, according to Boatwright.
