Potbelly is a Food On Demand Outstanding Operator.
Potbelly is known for its Wreck sandwiches, which are vertically layered creations of Everest proportions. But wreck doesn’t describe the year it had in 2024. Heck yes is more like it. Its digital and off-premises strategies played a key role.
Adam Noyes, COO at Potbelly
“Forty percent of our business comes from our digital platform,” said Chief Operating Officer Adam Noyes in an interview, “with catering, delivery and pick-up big parts of it.”
Catering rising
Catering is up 20 percent versus a year ago, said Noyes, with about half of that coming through the app. Is this growth due to return-to-office trends? A bit. But not entirely.
“It’s not just workplace occasions but social-catering opportunities like bridal showers and birthday parties,” he said. Catering had cratered during the pandemic but is back in a big way. “It has always been important to us. We’re investing not only in our offerings but in a new digital channel for ordering, which will offer a differentiated experience.”
That’s not the only digital glow-up the brand has made. It has also introduced a coin-based rewards programs to include more redemption options, from drinks and shakes to bowls of soup, and a secret menu for perks members. “Our loyalty customers visit us 30 percent more often so we want to take care of them,” he said. That means offering exclusive sandwiches like the Lucky Seven, which is only available through the app and features seven meats, all pulled from the brand’s Italian and Wreck sandwiches. Somewhere Homer Simpson is salivating.
The brand wants to make consumers who order delivery through Potbelly’s own channel feel lucky as well. “We encourage that because it allows us to directly communicate with consumers,” he said. But the brand isn’t militaristic about it.
“You don’t want to exclude consumers. If folks order through DoorDash or Uber Eats because they’re part of their loyalty program and they use it, great. We want to be relevant and available in those spaces,” he said.
A digital kitchen
Powering everything is the Potbelly Digital Kitchen (PDK), which integrates how orders enter the system and are communicated to the customer. The brand partners with Olo for the software. Customers see a display, which gives updates on the item journey, from preparation to placement on the shelf. And for staff, it’s invaluable. It starts with an item on a load screen, which is where it is prepared before it goes in the oven, and a dress screen, which is for the condiments, culminating in a receipt or a sticky paper that goes into the sandwich bag, and assembling. “It takes friction out of the experience,” Noyes said. PDK is in about 100 of the brand’s more than 400 shops, and in every new location.
Next up is a snappy new operations dashboard that will allow managers to evaluate performance metrics. “It will serve as a scorecard on how a shop is doing throughout the day,” he said.
With new rewards to incentivize consumers and new data to analyze, Noyes is confident that the brand’s belly will continue to be full.
“This year we made significant progress with our customer satisfaction scores,” he said, noting that more franchisees have signed on for 2025. “We’re just getting started with growth, which is fun place to be.”
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