The coronavirus pandemic pushed American companies to take advantage of the Internet to reach consumers and the same can be said of Wendy’s.
With the help of its loyalty program, the digital arm of the fast food chain is on track to account for a larger share of the company’s total sales well ahead of schedule, according to CEO Todd Penegor, who appeared Wednesday on CNBC.
Now the company expects digital to account for 10% of sales by 2021.
“We didn’t think we would reach 10% by 2024, pre-pandemic,” Penegor told Jim Cramer in an interview with “Mad Money”. “What we’re doing is driving a lot of active users to our app and people are participating in it. We’re seeing a lot more mobile orders and it’s really because there’s an advantage.”
Wendy’s also found success on the breakfast menu she launched last year. Although fewer Americans traveled to the office during the pandemic and broke the odds of stopping at a restaurant for a sandwich or coffee for breakfast in the morning, breakfast sales accounted for approximately 7% of total sales last year, the company said.
Penegor was optimistic about being competitive with other restaurants in the early hours of the morning. He expects that by the end of 2022 the breakfast menu will account for 10% of sales.
“The breakfast business is doing pretty well in the face of the pandemic,” he said. “That we can offer a 7% sales mix on our part of the breakfast day is pretty remarkable and super encouraging … What we’re seeing is a strong replay.”
Earlier Wednesday, Wendy’s reported fourth-quarter results that did not take Wall Street estimates into account, both on the top and bottom lines. The company posted total revenue of $ 474.3 million for the quarter, 11% more than the previous year’s $ 427.2 million and net income of $ 38.7 million, 46% more than the $ 26.5 million. According to FactSet, analysts were looking for revenue of about $ 476.6 million and a net profit of $ 39.9 million.
Throughout the year, Wendy’s recorded $ 1.73 million in revenue, up 1.5% and $ 117.8 million, up 14% from 2019.
Sales at the same restaurants in the United States increased 5.5% in the quarter and 2% year-over-year.
Shares of Wendy’s fell more than 5% Wednesday to close at $ 20.12.