A CALL TO ORDER
Sonic brings ‘order ahead’ to OKC
A mobile phone might come in handy the next time you’re craving a cherry limeade in Oklahoma City.
Sonic Drive-In is officially launching its mobile “order ahead” service throughout the Oklahoma City metro area beginning May 31. Customers can place food and beverage orders through an app on their phone, choose a Sonic location and set a time for pickup before arriving at a Sonic location.
“Order ahead is a key step into a more long-term strategic journey into being the most personalized experience in ... fast food,” Sonic Chief Brand Officer Jose Duenas said. “Order ahead gives us a competitive advantage.”
The company, which is based in Oklahoma City, has tested the service in Lafayette, Louisiana, since March. It has been tested some in Oklahoma City as well, but May 31 is the official local launch. Sonic hopes to have the service available nationally by year’s end.
The financial and consumer impact remains to be determined. The app is free, but offers customers an opportunity to pay from the app after loading preset amounts onto a Sonic card within the app.
“We are still trying to make sure we understand the impact of the increase of convenience plus the impact of increasing relevance in what we do because of a better understanding of our guests,” Duenas said. “We think that will allow us to grow faster than the competition over time.”
2 years in the making
The service has been in production for about two years. Matt Schein has worked on the project to turn the idea into a tangible reality.
“All the data tells us consumers are moving toward utilizing smartphone technology,” said Schein, vice
president of operations systems and execution. “I think our drive-in setup ... is perfect to interact with that sort of usage more than any other.”
Schein’s team faced challenges throughout the process, including the rapid rate of change in technology.
“It’s been kind of a trial-and-error learning session as we change the technology,” Schein said. “To adapt the app to make it work.”
Sonic Director of Product Management Sam DuRegger helped devise the customer-experience portion of the app, which will bring an added sense of personalization to the customer service, he says. A carhop will be able to address a customer by name, and customers will have additional ways to provide feedback — both positive and negative — regarding their service.
“Those elements make us one of the most personalized brands,” DuRegger said. “Which for us is really, really important.”
Customer feedback and collectible data is an aspect Duenas hopes to capitalize on as a company. The company studied other foodindustry businesses such as Starbucks, Panera and Domino’s for inspiration. Duenas described these companies as being technology-forward in their initiatives, and all have implemented similar technology in their service model.
“The data we collect through the app is going to help us fine-tune our marketing programs to be a lot more targeted,” Duenas said. “We talk about it as identifying the right target, delivering the right message through the right media at the right time, and that’s kind of the ultimate ambition.”