Dive Brief:

• Wingstop reported 21.6% U.S. same-store sales growth during Q1, which was almost entirely led by transaction growth, CEO Mike Skipworth said Wednesday during an earnings call. Average unit volumes currently exceed $1.9 million and will soon surpass the chain’s goal of $2 million, he said.
• Skipworth credited the chain’s strong financial performance — as well as a low upfront franchise investment of $500,000 — as helping accelerate the chain’s growth trajectory. 
• Management adjusted its guidance for new restaurant openings to a range of 275 to 295 net new openings in 2024. The company’s previous guidance capped out at about 270 net new units.

Dive Insight:

Wingstop started the year with 1,400 restaurant commitments under development, a pace that would bring the chain to over 3,000 units over time. During the first quarter, the chain opened 65 units bringing its total to 2,279 compared to 1,996 in the prior period, an increase of 14% increase quarter over quarter. The chain’s current growth trajectory is far higher than its three to five-year target of over 10% annual growth, Skipworth said. 

Also driving excitement among franchisees is the brand’s switch from an outside tech stack with Olo to a $50 million in-house platform, My Wingstop, which is helping the chain digitize every transaction. Digital sales made up a record-breaking 68% of its sales during Q1. 

“The investments we are making in technology allows us to leverage our growing database and create an entirely new level of personalization with our guests, one that we believe over time will drive conversion, retention rates and frequency,” Skipworth said. 

The fast casual brand also made significant headway with customer acquisition through increased media investments, including advertising during the NFL playoffs and becoming a presenting sponsor during the NBA’s Wednesday primetime matchup. The company’s digital database now makes up more than 40 million users, and Q1 marked the highest level of new customer acquisition on record, he added. 

“While we are seeing growth across all cohorts and income levels, these new guests we're bringing into the brand are demonstrating a higher frequency than our traditional guests,” Skipworth said. These new guests tend to be made up of millennials and Gen Z, have slightly higher incomes, don’t have kids and tend to engage with brands online, he added. 

“We are very pleased with our first quarter results and excited to be measuring record levels within our brand health metrics,” Skipworth said. “Importantly, we continue to measure record levels in value and quality scores as our brand partners and team members are focused on operational excellence and delivering a great guest experience.”