Chipotle’s School Spirit BOGO delivered record-breaking results on August 20, becoming the company’s #1 BOGO of all time, with more than 25% more redemptions than its previous record and the largest gross sales day in company history. The promotion offered a free entrée with the purchase of another entrée from 3 p.m. to close for guests wearing school apparel or accessories, spanning middle school, high school and college gear.
Consumer Edge data provides additional geographic color on where the promotion appears to have resonated most. Among Chipotle’s 30 largest states by pre-promotion sales, Nebraska saw the biggest acceleration in YoY sales growth on August 20 versus August 19, followed by Arizona, South Carolina and Florida. Several of the strongest markets, including Arizona, South Carolina, Florida, Texas and Virginia, are states where many students are already back in school by mid-August, while the strength in Nebraska, Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan also points to markets with prominent school and college cultures. The results suggest Chipotle’s school-spirit theme may have been particularly effective in markets where back-to-school was already top of mind and identification with local schools is strong.
How business leaders use this data
- Restaurant operators measure promotional lift the day after a campaign runs, and at the state level, instead of waiting for quarterly comps to show which markets responded.
- Marketing teams test whether a campaign’s theme reached its intended audience by comparing markets where that theme applies against markets where it does not.
- Strategy teams benchmark a competitor’s promotional day against their own traffic to size how much of the lift was incremental and how much was pulled forward.
Notes: State-level figures reflect the change in year-over-year Consumer Edge US credit and debit card sales growth on August 20 versus August 19, among Chipotle’s 30 largest states by pre-promotion sales.
