Background

Ike’s Love and Sandwiches is a fast-growing sandwich chain known for its diverse and complex menu offerings, including a unique variety of sandwiches at each of its 95 corporate-owned locations (plus 7 franchise locations). The business model emphasizes individual menu customization for different locations, which creates operational complexity, particularly in managing online ordering and point-of-sale (POS) systems.

With the rise in digital orders, Ike’s faced significant financial discrepancies from error-related refunds, primarily through third-party delivery platforms such as DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub. To address this issue, Ike’s adopted Linked Eats’ Revenue Recapture product after previously working with Otter.

Challenges

1. Revenue Loss Due to Error-Related Refunds: A key challenge was customers exploiting refund systems, particularly via third-party delivery platforms, which led to losses in revenue. Managing disputes manually was both time-consuming and not feasible with Ike’s lean operational team.
2. Operational Growth vs. System Efficiency: Ike’s rapid expansion caused a misalignment between its operational capabilities and its POS systems. Handling a unique menu at every location across multiple channels (in-store, third-party, and first-party) added complexity to digital ordering.

Solution: Linked Eats Revenue Recapture

In 2024, Ike’s transitioned from Otter to Linked Eats' Revenue Recapture solution to mitigate these financial losses and optimize dispute management for error-related refunds.

Why Ike’s Chose Linked Eats

• Improved Financial Returns: Ike’s found that Linked Eats delivered the same or better performance in recapturing lost revenue compared to Otter. In test locations, Linked Eats matched or exceeded Otter’s win-back performance.
• Lower Commission Rates: Linked Eats offered lower commission fees than Otter, allowing Ike’s to retain a larger portion of its recovered revenue.
• Streamlined Setup & Maintenance: Linked Eats’ “set it and forget it” system provided an easy onboarding process, with little ongoing maintenance required from Ike’s internal team. Ike’s operational team appreciated the hands-off nature of the product, which allowed Linked Eats to handle disputes autonomously.
• Advanced Reporting & Operational Insights: Linked Eats’ platform offered visibility into detailed transaction-level reporting, enabling Ike’s to track and analyze chargebacks and win-backs by location. This data allowed Ike’s to target specific operational inefficiencies, including common errors at particular locations.

Results: $52K Recaptured in first 6 months

• Revenue Recapture Rate: Linked Eats managed to recover 80-85% of chargebacks, resulting in a significant financial boost for Ike’s.
• Operational Efficiency: By outsourcing dispute management to Linked Eats, Ike’s internal team could focus more on core business functions without sacrificing financial oversight.
• Partnership Growth: The long-term partnership with Linked Eats continued to evolve, with new features under development, such as deeper menu error analysis to further reduce chargebacks.

Client Feedback

"It’s a very simple, no-brainer system to add, especially if you’re not having anyone internally at the company do dispute recapture. Linked Eats has great rates, and I like that the portal is very easy to use and dive into operationally to lower chargebacks."

Savanna Dale, Director of Operation Services

Key Takeaways for Other Restaurants

1. Ease of Implementation: Linked Eats offers a simple onboarding process, making it an easy-to-adopt solution even for teams with limited bandwidth.
2. Improved Profit Margins: With lower commission fees than competitors, Linked Eats provides a more cost-effective way to recapture lost revenue.
3. Actionable Insights: Beyond dispute management, Linked Eats provides detailed reporting that can help operations teams reduce errors at the source, ultimately lowering chargeback rates.
4. Customizable for Growth: As Ike’s continues to expand, Linked Eats’ scalable platform can grow alongside the brand, ensuring continued success with minimal friction.

Conclusion

Ike’s Love and Sandwiches has benefited immensely from its partnership with Linked Eats, recovering significant revenue lost to chargebacks and optimizing its operations with minimal effort. Linked Eats' combination of effective revenue recapture, ease of use, and valuable operational insights makes it a no-brainer for other restaurant groups facing similar challenges with third-party delivery and online ordering systems.