KFC franchisee relies on Upside to reach new and infrequent customers
Felker Day uses Upside to acquire uncommitted diners. By participating in the marketplace, it wins more visits and greater spend.
KFC franchisee relies on Upside to reach new and infrequent customers
Felker Day uses Upside to acquire uncommitted diners. By participating in the marketplace, it wins more visits and greater spend.
KFC franchisee relies on Upside to reach new and infrequent customers
Felker Day uses Upside to acquire uncommitted diners. By participating in the marketplace, it wins more visits and greater spend.
lower customer acquisition cost than traditional marketing
Staying top-of-mind at decision time
Long known for its craveable fried chicken, KFC has been one of the most popular American fast food chains for nearly 75 years. But as a legacy brand, KFC has a fanbase that skews older — creating an opportunity to bring in new generations of customers.
Felker Day is a KFC franchisee with 16 restaurants in the Carolinas. Paul Accordino, the vice president of operations for Felker Day, was looking for a way to attract a new generation of customers and stay top-of-mind with them as they decide where to eat.
“KFC has been around for a long time,” he said, “and we need to acquire new guests to help us move forward.”
To do that, the brand has launched a few of its own initiatives — including a fresh advertising push and new menu items like chicken tenders. But the job of driving profitable growth also falls on the franchisee, and to do his part, Paul thought of an app he’d been using in his personal life: Upside.
Paul learned of Upside’s digital marketplace through its consumer marketing initiatives, and he downloaded the app so that he could try it out the next time he purchased gas. Impressed by the ability to earn cash back on his everyday purchases, Paul continued to use Upside while fueling up — and recognized its ability to influence where people choose to shop.
“Upside actually changes my behavior,” he said. “It actually got me going to the same station more often.”
When he learned that Upside was adding restaurants to the marketplace, the Felker Day team jumped at the opportunity to get their stores on Upside.
Reach millions of customers that aren’t dining with you today
Upside’s digital marketplace drives nearby consumers to its food and fuel retail partners. It motivates them to choose our partners over the competition with personalized offers that match what each customer needs to say yes.
For Felker Day, being on Upside’s marketplace means free visibility with the right audience. And on top of that, Upside invests $100 million a year in consumer marketing to attract users for our retail partners.)
To Accordino, partnering with Upside is an opportunity to show up in front of Felker Day’s target demographic and encourage them to try KFC.
Efficient acquisition and long-term behavior change
Accordino estimates that using traditional channels, his customer acquisition cost (CAC) is somewhere in the neighborhood of $35, and it can go up to $50 in some cases.
But with Upside, he calculated his CAC at just shy of $5. In other words, Felker Day can acquire new or lapsed customers at least 7X more efficiently with Upside than by traditional means.
“That piece, to me, is what sells the program,” Accordino said. “That is a no-brainer.”
And after they decide to claim an offer and visit KFC, Upside users also have larger-than-average order sizes. “Our people spend more when they use Upside,” he added.
That’s true both on the level of individual transactions and customer spend over time. Recent Upside transaction data shows that restaurant customers are more likely to stay customers when they use Upside. At the individual level, Upside increases retention rates in the restaurant industry by 28%.
For Felker Day, that efficient acquisition and long-term value is a key for business growth.
“Money we earn through Upside is money we wouldn’t have had otherwise,” Accordino said. “We have a great partnership, and we’re certainly fans of the platform.”
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Retailer profile
Felker Day
Restaurant
lower customer acquisition cost than traditional marketing
Staying top-of-mind at decision time
Long known for its craveable fried chicken, KFC has been one of the most popular American fast food chains for nearly 75 years. But as a legacy brand, KFC has a fanbase that skews older — creating an opportunity to bring in new generations of customers.
Felker Day is a KFC franchisee with 16 restaurants in the Carolinas. Paul Accordino, the vice president of operations for Felker Day, was looking for a way to attract a new generation of customers and stay top-of-mind with them as they decide where to eat.
“KFC has been around for a long time,” he said, “and we need to acquire new guests to help us move forward.”
To do that, the brand has launched a few of its own initiatives — including a fresh advertising push and new menu items like chicken tenders. But the job of driving profitable growth also falls on the franchisee, and to do his part, Paul thought of an app he’d been using in his personal life: Upside.
Paul learned of Upside’s digital marketplace through its consumer marketing initiatives, and he downloaded the app so that he could try it out the next time he purchased gas. Impressed by the ability to earn cash back on his everyday purchases, Paul continued to use Upside while fueling up — and recognized its ability to influence where people choose to shop.
“Upside actually changes my behavior,” he said. “It actually got me going to the same station more often.”
When he learned that Upside was adding restaurants to the marketplace, the Felker Day team jumped at the opportunity to get their stores on Upside.
Reach millions of customers that aren’t dining with you today
Upside’s digital marketplace drives nearby consumers to its food and fuel retail partners. It motivates them to choose our partners over the competition with personalized offers that match what each customer needs to say yes.
For Felker Day, being on Upside’s marketplace means free visibility with the right audience. And on top of that, Upside invests $100 million a year in consumer marketing to attract users for our retail partners.)
To Accordino, partnering with Upside is an opportunity to show up in front of Felker Day’s target demographic and encourage them to try KFC.
Efficient acquisition and long-term behavior change
Accordino estimates that using traditional channels, his customer acquisition cost (CAC) is somewhere in the neighborhood of $35, and it can go up to $50 in some cases.
But with Upside, he calculated his CAC at just shy of $5. In other words, Felker Day can acquire new or lapsed customers at least 7X more efficiently with Upside than by traditional means.
“That piece, to me, is what sells the program,” Accordino said. “That is a no-brainer.”
And after they decide to claim an offer and visit KFC, Upside users also have larger-than-average order sizes. “Our people spend more when they use Upside,” he added.
That’s true both on the level of individual transactions and customer spend over time. Recent Upside transaction data shows that restaurant customers are more likely to stay customers when they use Upside. At the individual level, Upside increases retention rates in the restaurant industry by 28%.
For Felker Day, that efficient acquisition and long-term value is a key for business growth.
“Money we earn through Upside is money we wouldn’t have had otherwise,” Accordino said. “We have a great partnership, and we’re certainly fans of the platform.”
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