Chick-fil-A
Chick-fil-A has mastered the fast food fried chicken sandwich.
But can it figure out a mobile app?
In the first few days of September, the 52-year old chain
encouraged customers to use its relaunched mobile ordering app,
called Chick-fil-A One, in the way it knows best: by offering free
food. "Chick-fil-A customers who already have a Chick-fil-A One
account or download the app and create a new account will receive a
free breakfast item," the company said.
The strategy has worked well in the past. In June, when the
company first launched the revamped app — the product of "three
years of collaborating, testing, learning, and developing," it
said. In just three days,
Chick-fil-A One was downloaded a million times, and was the
No. 1 free appin the iTunes
store.
Free sandwiches aside, biggest promise of the app was allowing
customers to cut Chick-fil-A's legendary long lines by ordering
ahead — a feature that has proven popular at other busy chains like
Starbucks. The app has been downloaded more than 7 million times
since June 1, according to the company.
But it has attracted plenty of complaints and a relatively low
rating from users — a surprising development for a chain known in
the industry for its meticulous approach to service and obsession
with
carefully designing the customer
experience.
According to more than 1,600 reviews of all versions of the app
on iTunes, and more than 120 reviews on the current version, many
of iPhone users had problems with the Chick-fil-A One app crashing,
not registering accounts, and issues adding credit card
information.
As of Monday, the app's overall rating on the iTunes store is 3
out of 5 stars.
Apple iTunes
The current version of the app, issued at the end of August,
has an even lower rating: 2.5 stars.
Apple iTunes
"Love chick. Hate this app," one reviewer wrote. Another
complained that after arriving at the restaurant at the time the
app indicated, they still had to wait 15 minutes for their order.
"App is only useful because of freebies, otherwise I would not use
it," read the review.
Apple iTunes
"Keeps saying 'issue checking you in' then it cancels order,"
complained a user last week. "It took waaaaay longer than just
waiting in the drive thru," another said.
Apple iTunes
A spokeswoman for Chick-fil-A said these reviews are not
representative of the feedback or how the app is working. "Most of
the feedback through the app and Google Play (which ranked
Chick-fil-A One with a 4.2 rating) has been overwhelmingly
positive," she wrote in an email.
But since August 31, when the current version of the app was
released, users on Google Play have given it an average score of
3.4/5, according to data from App Annie.
"We are not currently dealing with any system-wide issues. Most
of the feedback since the June 1 launch of Chick-fil-A One has been
positive, though, as with any technology, there have been isolated
incidents. We are tirelessly working on addressing every single one
of these," the company said in a statement to BuzzFeed News. "The
goal of Chick-fil-A One app is to make the guest experience even
faster, more convenient and more personal than ever before - and we
are committed to making the Chick-fil-A One app the best way to
experience Chick-fil-A."
Restaurants from Panera and Starbucks to Taco Bell have been
rolling out mobile ordering apps in an effort to reduce wait times
and — in some cases — encourage larger orders (mobile apps have
been effective at getting customers to order more.) At Starbucks,
5% of transactions now come from its mobile app, and 25% of
transactions are paid for by app, the company said at a conference
last week.
Chick-fil-A
Chick-Fil-A Is Testing A New
Solution To Crazy-Long Lines