Fast-casual restaurant chain Dave’s Hot Chicken surprised the tech community last Wednesday by becoming not only the most downloaded food and beverage app in the iOS app store, but by earning the top honors for the most downloaded mobile app overall. The number one spot was previously held for weeks by Sora, OpenAI’s AI video generator tool, according to mobile app analytics website, Sensor Tower.
The reason behind the sudden come-from-behind win for Dave’s Hot Chicken? The Pasadena, Calif.-based chain was promoting its annual giveaway in honor of Drake’s birthday, with a free chicken slider for signing up with the Dave’s app.
“We knew that on Drake Day that we would possibly top the charts of the food and beverage category, but we never thought that we would be number one in the app store overall,” Leon Davoyan, chief technology officer of Dave’s Hot Chicken, said. “It was a big surprise to us, and it took us a while to figure that out.”
Dave’s Hot Chicken began partnering with hip-hop artist and company investor Drake to celebrate his birthday in 2022. That first year, the company gave away free food to 10,000 social media followers.
This year, fans could download the Dave’s app and show up to a Dave’s Hot Chicken on Oct. 23 any time from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. local time for a free chicken tender or chicken slider, with no purchase necessary.
While this is the third time Dave’s Hot Chicken has promoted this giveaway, it’s the biggest response the company has recorded.
“This gives somebody the chance to try Dave’s with very minimal risk,” Davoyan said. “Obviously, the majority of folks are probably going to be downloading [the app for the promotion] but … we get the food in their mouth, and they realize that it’s high-quality food that tastes great, and that turns them into a repeat customer.”
Davoyan said that the other years of this promotion has turned into second- and third-time transactions after the initial freebie.
Dave’s Hot Chicken was the number one most downloaded app on the iOS store on Oct. 22 and 23. By Oct. 24, the top spots were held by Sora and ChatGPT again.
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