WaBa Grill, a fast-casual chain known for charbroiled protein bowls, plates, and tacos, has announced a partnership with Bikky, a customer data platform (CDP) built for multi-unit restaurants.
With Bikky, WaBa Grill says it can analyze the behavior of the 10 million guests it has served since 2020, a 12x increase over the number of guests strictly viewable through its first-party ordering platforms. WaBa has also been using Bikky’s insights to redesign its menu.
“The data has showed us that we could put our menu real estate to better use with products that are stickier for our guests,” said Mark Finnegan, chief marketing officer at WaBa Grill, in a statement.
Industry data continues to point toward a challenging environment for restaurants, with traffic for QSR and fast casual brands declining every month since the start of 2024, according to Black Box Intelligence. Many operators are looking to turn the page from 2024. The race may likely be won by brands who best know how to gather and analyze data.
“Today, we’re smarter than we were,” said Finnegan. “We’re working with fewer anecdotes and more facts, going less on gut and more on data.”
WaBa Grill has nearly 200 locations in California, Nevada, Arizona, and Texas and is planning further expansion across the U.S.
