Time have never been more valuable. In recognising the importance of time to its customers, Chargrill Charlie’s have introduced their latest app on both the App Store and Google Play.
By using the app, you can purchase your favourite Chargrill Charlie’s meal without bringing your wallet. Imagine Amazon Go with your favourite charcoal chicken restaurant. There is also the added bonus of earning loyalty rewards by using the app to place your orders.
It is available for use at all of Chargrill Charlie’s popular stores, stretching across Sydney from Rose Bay to Wahroonga.
Tony Zhang from ECX decided to explore the app and with it, Chargrill Charlie’s inspirational story.
While cash has always been the preferred payment method by food businesses, due to transaction cost for card payments and the low margins of the industry, Ryan Sher recognises that convenience to customer is also important with ApplePay, AndroidPay, PayPal, PayPass and PayWave gaining popularity. Chargrill Charlie’s App, envisioned by Ryan is his solution to make life easier for his customers.
“Students who finish school can just come in order and leave with a simple click of a button”
The app is essentially a virtual wallet and is a pioneer in the charcoal chicken industry. Chargrill Charlie’s is introducing convenience to its customers that traditionally only much larger companies can offer.
While convenience is important, the key highlight of the app is Ryan’s vision to create a family for his customers.
“The main feature is actually our loyalty system,” says Ryan. “It’s an app that makes you feel you’re a part of Chargrill Charlie’s, that’s the most important thing.”
The loyalty system of Chargrill Charlie’s is similar to other loyalty based apps where you earn points when you spend. Users earn 10 points for every $1 spent with a $20 ‘Regular Card’ issued when you reach 3,500 points.
For serious chicken lovers, Gold Level status is reached once a customer has reached a certain spend. How to gain access to Gold Level status, that remains under lock and key for now. Gold Members receive a $20 voucher for every 2,000 points, free delivery for at-home catering over $200, a special surprise on their birthday and free in-store merchandise.
“It’s an app that makes you feel you’re a part of Chargrill Charlie’s, that’s the most important thing.”
Being one of the first stores to construct an app, Chargrill Charlie’s is moving forward with the times and is at the forefront of innovation for their industry. This is unsurprising as they have been innovative since they cooked their first chargrill chicken in 1989.
Traditionally, to cook a charcoal chicken, the use of the charcoal’s soaring heat was what made the chickens succulent and delicious and defined its very name. This was a popular method in the past but could produce severe underlying health issues for the chefs due to exposure to the heat and smoke. “It affected my dad’s lungs and the doctors told him that he wasn’t allowed to make another charcoal chicken again,” Ryan says.
Due to the Sher Family’s passion and love for the business, they needed to find a way to make the best charcoal chicken without the side effects. Not making another charcoal chicken was simply not an option for Ryan’s dad.
After numerous designs and trials, in 1994, Chargrill Charlie’s became one of the first to make their very own chicken machine specifically for the cooking of charcoal chickens. It was structured with a cast iron that radiates the same high intensity heat as the traditional charcoal method. “This reduces the smoke and the negative by-products” Ryan explained, “I am very proud to say that we are the first to come up with this production method.”. Chargrill Charlie’s chicken machine would soon become the industry standard that has been used widely by most charcoal chicken stores today.
13 years later, Chargrill Charlie’s latest innovation is their very own app. There is no doubt, others in the industry will follow suit, but there is also no doubt, Chargrill Charlie’s will continue to be at the forefront of innovation in the future.
Chargrill Charlie’s app can be found on both the Apple app store and Google Play.
Journo for ECX Magazine
