Dutch Bros Explores Mobile Ordering Options

Dutch Bros expanded by opening 159 new locations in 2023, and now they've surpassed 830 stores on their way to reaching a long-term goal of 4,000 stores. This year, they plan to continue growing at about 20%, which shows that a lot of people like what they offer. About 35% of Dutch Bros locations have been open for less than two years.

During a recent earnings call, Dutch Bros talked about how they're keeping up with this fast growth. They're trying out a new way for people to order on their phones at some shops in Arizona. The CEO, Christine Barone, says they want to get this right and make sure it's fast, good quality, and helpful. They hope to have this in most shops by the end of the year.

This could be big, especially since Starbucks says more than 30% of their orders are from mobile phones. Dutch Bros customers use their phones a lot, with about 65% of orders coming from their rewards members. They're working on making personalized offers for customers too.

Dutch Bros is also spending more money on advertising this year to bring in more customers, especially in new areas. They're using digital ads and getting involved in local communities.

They're also trying out new products, like their protein coffee. They might make more morning options in the future, but they think mobile ordering is the most important.

They're changing how they pick locations for their shops too. They're trying to reach more places and make more people want their coffee. They're also making changes to their leases and trying different types of shops.

All these changes aren't just to keep up with their fast growth. They're also trying to get more people to visit. In the last quarter, traffic was about the same as last year, but it was better than the quarter before. They're doing well in the afternoon, and more people are buying cold drinks.

Dutch Bros is doing better than other coffee shops, with visits up by 10% compared to last year. Overall, visits to coffee shops went down by about 3%.

Here are some key numbers from the last quarter:

• They opened 37 new shops in 10 states.

• Their total revenues went up by about 26%.

• The money they made from shops that were already open went up by 5%.

• In the whole of 2023, they opened 159 new shops in 13 states, making it their busiest year ever.

• They made about $966 million, up by about 31% from the year before.

• Their shops, on average, made about $1.97 million each, which is the most ever.

• The money they made from shops that were already open went up by about 3%.

These numbers show that Dutch Bros is growing fast and doing well, even as other coffee shops struggle a bit.

Image via Dutch Bros