Free burritos are currently being offered by Chipotle to get back its loyal customers as well as win new ones. Diners need only to pay for a drink, and then use a coupon to get a free steak burrito bowl.
Joe Fersedi, an ITB Investment Research analyst thinks that this free food campaign have spiked during the second week of February. He said that this occurred when credit card transactions under $4 shortly hit 10 percent before going back to their normal level of just 2 percent in late February.
The $4 benchmark represents the cost of a free entrée accompanied by a paid drink or chips.
"We have to wait to see if management turns on the 'promotion spigot' again," after the brief closure of a Massachusetts restaurant last week due to sick employees, said Fersedi.
The restaurant chain's string of food safety issues has brought down the number of its diners and consequently reduced its sales last year. An E. coli outbreak and several health issues have sent its sales down.
To offset this situation and to bring back its loyal diners, Chipotle is planning to give away over 20 million burritos via coupons and mobile offers.
The convenience food chain Chipotle is now currently planning to expand its free burritos campaign in more locations in its bid to convince its customers that its food is safe.
"It was kind of eerie - and we'd hear this from customers, who would walk by a once-busy restaurant and see now there's no line whatsoever," lamented John R. Hartung, the restaurant's chief financial officer.
Hartung said that it was important that the 2,000 chain of restaurants to "look like Chipotle again." As the summer goes near, the restaurant chain would consider offering "buy one, get one" deals or increase its targeted mobile offers in locations where company sales are lagging.
