Dive Brief:
- Wendy’s turnaround strategy includes improving digital experience to drive frequency while investing in operations to enable a more consistent customer experience, President and CEO Bob Wright said on a Q2 2026 earnings call last week.
- Wright, who joined the company in May, sees “significant opportunities” to bolster Wendy’s digital experience, including the brand’s analytics, customer-facing digital assets, in-restaurant solutions and approach to loyalty.
- Wendy’s operational changes will include changes to the drive-thru during peak hours to ensure restaurants have the right staffing levels, training and tools necessary to deliver a consistent experience, according to Wright.
Dive Insight:
Wendy’s is facing multiple challenges, including an inconsistent customer experience, which were reflected in its latest results.
“Our quality differentiation has eroded,” Wright said during the call. “Our value proposition has weakened, and we have not consistently delivered the experience customers expect from Wendy's. These issues have weighed on traffic and created pressure on the restaurant economic model, which is the heartbeat of this business.”
U.S. same-restaurant sales fell 7% year over year in the second quarter of 2026, according to an earnings report. U.S. systemwide sales dropped 8.2% year over year. International sales grew 3.4% year over year, while global systemwide sales fell 6.5% year over year.
Despite the financial declines, customer satisfaction scores for the U.S. improved during the quarter, according to Wright. However, there is still a lot of work to be done across Wendy’s as a whole.
Wright plans on drawing upon his experience as CEO of Potbelly, where he helped organize a turnaround between 2020 and 2025. While he acknowledged that there is no one-size-fits-all solution to winning in the restaurant industry, he believes both companies have similar foundations.
“I'm telling you that customers respond to a great brand that recognizes the problems they've created for that relationship and they begin to reward you for it,” Wright said. “And I think that's some of the stuff that we can do here. It is a significant opportunity for us, for our franchisees.”
Consistency is one of Wendy’s top challenges, according to Wright. A brand that fails to deliver an overall consistent experience risks losing customers’ trust and confidence.
“We must set clear performance standards, establish the processes and procedures needed to meet them, provide training that enables every team member to execute consistently and ensure the organizational structure supports our restaurants and reinforces our commitment to excellence,” Wright said.
Wendy’s will invest in technology to improve the customer experience as well as boost efficiency, according to Wright.
The company has already started making some changes. Second quarter 2026 capital expenditures included $8.3 million for technology initiatives that included enhancements to the user experience and more targeted marketing in the Wendy’s app, according to CFO and Chief Strategy Officer Steve Cirulis.
The turnaround is in its early stages, and Wendy’s will share more details in the future, according to Wright. The company plans to measure its progress through several indicators, including return on investment and customer satisfaction.
