Bojangles is a Food On Demand Outstanding Operator.
Eric Stepp, senior off-premises and catering manager for Bojangles
Eric Stepp, senior off-premise and catering manager for Bojangles, the growing fried chicken QSR chain, is happy to discuss the brand’s array of operational tactics and tools, from kiosks to limited-time offers (LTOs). But there’s one priority he emphasizes the most.
“Drive-thru,” he said in an interview. “For us drive-thru will likely always be king. People coming through on their way to work, or on their way home from work, with their kids, after practices, is big for us. Our marketing team works closely with our operations and tech teams to ensure our in store and digital channels can coexist to make sure that experience is great.”
And not just for consumers, but employees. The brand is experimenting with a voice AI solution to free up staff. It’s still in a beta phase but may be rolled out soon. “It’s been working well in our tests,” he said. “Our big thing is we don’t want to ask our employees to manage all aspects of the business so much.”
Meeting customers where they are
If drive-thru is king, delivery is queen. The brand maintains a royal presence on all the third-party delivery marketplaces, which makes sense since off-premise revenue accounts for 10 percent of the brand’s overall pie.
“We make sure we are accessible, available and reliable for consumers wherever they want us to be,” he said. “Third-party delivery has been a key digital channel for us over the years as it’s become table stakes in the industry.”
Not that the brand wouldn’t like to grow its first-party ordering. It would. And it’s making investments to make this happen.
“We’ve redesigned our website, app, and tech stack over the last year to make ordering first party easier for our guests and we’re seeing strong growth from our investments,” he said
Betting on catering
The brand offers catering through ezCater. Similar to its third-party delivery philosophy, it’s grateful for the ease-of-use that ezCater offers, but it’s also trying to handle more orders on its own.
“ezCater has its own customer base, which is great to tap into, but we’re working to grow our first-party ordering, by using marketing tools to give staff extra prep time to complete bigger orders, from email communications and POS notifications and things like that,” he said, noting that the brand recently launched ordering through the app.
About 70 percent of the restaurants systemwide offer catering, with more planning to add it by the end of the year. The catering menu includes a variety of favorites, from breakfast items like biscuits and Bo Rounds, to staple lunch and dinner items like chicken, sandwiches and iced tea.
A trusted tech partner
With 837 locations and global sales approaching $2 billion, Bojangles can afford to experiment and add things carefully, like in-app ordering. It also has a trusted relationship with a key tech provider to manage the constantly moving parts.
“Olo helps us manage everything in all our digital channels,” he said. “It really helped us handle orders during the Super Bowl. It helps us manage capacity, which is so useful.”
Being smart about LTOs
Gone are the days where a brand simply offers a free drink with a purchase of an entree for one day only. Today LTOs are much more sophisticated and effective if you understand the science behind them. Which Stepp does.
“We make data driven promotional strategies to maintain profitability and improve conversions on our digital channels,” he said. “ Analyzing our customer data helps us create the right offers at the right time to the right guests. For example, our breakfast guest might see a very different offer from our dinner guest due to different AOVs.”
Not standing still
Bojangles didn’t get to be Bojangles by standing in place. It is rolling out a number of new menu items this year, including several salads and a sweet-and-savory chicken-and-berry waffle.
It also is laying the groundwork for a spiffed-up loyalty program. It won’t be unveiled this year but next year. That’s how intentionally the brand operates, which may provide a clue to its success. It moves carefully and smartly.
“We’re building the framework and identifying what our customers want in the ordering experience,” he said. “Our customers order different food at different times and we want to have content strategies in place for each customer segment.”
Up to now the brand has mostly operated in the South but it’s been making inroads in the West, with new agreements in Arizona, California, and Nevada. Fueling this success has been its success with digital ordering.
“We’ve been growing about 15 percent year over year on digital channels,” he said.
At this pace it’s well on its way to making Bojangles as well-known as any chicken brand in the country, including that one with the colonel.
“We want to become that national brand that everyone knows and loves,” Stepp said.
The Outstanding Operators Program highlights 20 innovative brands taking creative paths to success with all things off-premises. Each winner receives a $1,000 charitable donation to its organization of choice and will be recognized on-stage at the 2025 Food On Demand Conference. Register today!
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