Chances are high you’ve heard of Jersey Mike’s. Greater than 90% of surveyed shoppers have. Getting them to really order a sub? That’s the laborious half.
The chain’s buyer base has lengthy skewed older, male, and higher-income, CEO Charlie Morrison stated on a latest earnings name, in line with QSR. To succeed in youthful diners, ladies, and Hispanic visitors, Jersey Mike’s is lastly going digital. “Earlier than 2026, the corporate actually had no funding in digital advertising efforts of any form,” Morrison stated. That’s out of an advert finances topping $200 million a yr.
This yr, about 20% of that cash went to paid social, search, and related TV. And the consequences are displaying. Loyalty sign-ups are up 21%, and digital now accounts for 43% of gross sales.
Restricted-time provides assist, too: roughly half the individuals who purchased Mike’s Scorching Italian throughout its first run had been new to the model. Identical-store gross sales rose 3% within the third quarter, up from 2.3% the quarter earlier than, and systemwide gross sales climbed 11% to $1.2 billion. Seems a sub store based in 1956 can nonetheless study new methods.
