The fast-casual restaurant brand says it expects the platform to speed service and make jobs easier
Wingstop Inc. is testing a new kitchen operating platform that it expects will speed service and make back-of-the-house jobs easier, executives said Wednesday.
Michael Skipworth, CEO and president of Dallas-based Wingstop, which on Wednesday released earnings for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 28, said the new kitchen platform has been in test in about 30 restaurants, some for more than a year. The company expects to roll out the platform in the next 12 months, he said.
It will “allow us to have a meaningful reduction in our quote times and deliver on guests expectations around speed of service on a consistent basis,” Skipworth told analysts. “In doing this, we believe we will unlock pent-up demand and become more of the consideration set while also improving team member productivity.”
Skipworth said the platform offers an opportunity to increase customer frequency.
“This is about capturing our fair share and ensuring Wingstop continues to be a part of the consideration set for guests,” he said.
“We actually believe this is going to fundamentally change our kitchen operations and, while doing this, we actually think we're going to be able to further enhance the quality that Wingstop is known for,” Skipworth said.
He added that the platform “was built specifically for Wingstop,” and it will use artificial intelligence.
“It isn't just a digitization of a kitchen ticket and an order workflow, but it's really leveraging visual cues and gamification to engage the team members,” he said. “This is a really exciting opportunity to speed up the competency for new team members and also provides role clarity, and ultimately, we think it's going to increase the productivity of our team members.”
The platform also includes consumer-facing ready screens that will allow Wingstop to manage guests' expectations around order status, he said.
“We think this platform is actually something that's going to be foundational as we think about opportunities to connect what's happening inside our kitchen with the investments we've made in the consumer-facing digital business,” with MyWingstop, he said.
The MyWingstop platform, which includes loyalty and was introduced last year, now has passed 50 million customers, he added.
For the fourth quarter ended Dec. 28, Wingstop’s net income was $26.8 million, or 92 cents a share, compared to $18.8 million, or 64 cents a share, in the prior-year period. Revenue in the fourth quarter was $161.8 million compared to $127.1 million the same period a year ago.
The company’s domestic same-store sales increased 10.1% for the fourth quarter and 19.9% for the fiscal year.
“We also acknowledge the fact, that the industry backdrop that we were operating in, a lot of brands took too much price, and the consumer grew frustrated with that,” Skipworth said. “That put us in a position to win an outside share in the marketplace and something we took advantage of.”
During the quarter, Wingstop had 105 net new openings.
As of Dec. 28, Wingstop had 2,563 restaurants open systemwide with 359 of those international locations. The company owned and operated 50 restaurants.
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