Popeyes and APT partner on Test & Learn software

New York --Applied Predictive Technologies announced that Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen will license APT's Test & Learn software to test business initiatives such as menu strategies, pricing, and capital investments.



Popeyes is using APT to test strategic initiatives across its network of more than 1,700 domestic restaurants, evaluating a wide range of business initiatives, including menu strategies, pricing, marketing and media, labor and operations, and capital investments.



The solution will allow Popeyes to try an idea in some markets, in some restaurants, or with some customers and comparing the performance of a “test” group to the performance of an optimally-matched “control” group.



“Unfortunately, the process of designing, executing, and analyzing tests in the real world is extremely challenging, due to a constant slew of concurrent initiatives in market at any given time, weekly sales volatility, and differences between restaurants and markets,” said John Howard, senior VP at APT. “Test & Learn helps executives answer three key questions about any proposed idea before they take the risk of rolling it out network wide: First, will the idea work? Second, will it work better in some restaurants or in some markets than others? And finally, how can we tailor and target the idea for maximum profitability upon rollout?”



APT’s software suite for restaurants also includes tools to visually explore restaurant performance data, improve the menu, determine the profile of the best performing sites, and measure price elasticity.



During an initial pilot project with APT, Popeyes used APT’s Test & Learn software to determine the incremental impact of investments across local and national media, remodels, and value initiatives.



“APT’s Test & Learn software has significantly increased our internal data analytics capabilities. Using APT, we have an enhanced perspective of the incremental impact of our media investments, despite the large number of other factors, such as recent reimages, that also impact performance,” said Suzanne Miller, VP of Field Marketing and Media at Popeyes. “The APT software enables us to better understand the results of both national and local incremental media investments in individual markets, which will guide our media planning strategy going forward.”