LDF Taps Earthlink to Optimize Customer Experience for Its Wendy

LDF Food Group, Inc., a Midwest Wendy’s franchisee operating more than 40 restaurants in Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas, is teaming up with EarthLink Holdings Corp. to implement a secure, private network to support expected growth and enhance the overall customer experience.

EarthLink, a leading managed network and cloud solutions provider for multi-location businesses, is used by all Wendy’s Restaurants under LDF to run its Point of Sale (POS), inventory management, and employee engagement and training. Now, LDF Food Group will use the network with the goal of further enhancing the customer experience.

After an in-depth evaluation conducted by LDF’s consultant Flex Communications, it was determined that EarthLink would be the optimal partner capable of providing responsive service and project management for an easier transition to their upgraded IT infrastructure. The decision was made based on criteria including network reliability, security, and the opportunity to reduce credit card processing costs with EarthLink MPLS Direct Connect service to their payment processor.

“LDF’s successful growth made their former network obsolete,” Jennifer Orr, Director of Client Development, Flex Communications said in a release. “Shifting to EarthLink’s MPLS is a natural step as it provides the reliability and security of a private network, and the footprint to support LDF’s distributed locations at the right price point.”

And as more customers are ditching cash and paying with plastic, EarthLink’s MPLS Direct Connect services optimizes the payment experience by reducing transaction times to as little as two seconds, as well as cutting transaction fees for LDF. LDF also needed to optimize its bandwidth in a cost effective way to accommodate Wendy’s corporate marketing and loyalty programs, as well as its web-based online training and free customer Wi-Fi.

Earthlink’s MPLS is providing the foundation for a more efficient and pleasant customer experience for the Wendy’s under LDF.

“Fast service and a consistent experience is what our customers expect, and our EarthLink MPLS network makes that a reliable and secure reality,” Rick Albrecht, LDF Vice President and Controller, said. “Our network connectivity is the backbone of our entire operation, and consolidating with EarthLink also makes a big difference to my internal IT team. With EarthLink optimizing the network, my team can focus on implementing innovative applications and projects from Wendy's corporate. All of those applications are dependent upon our IT infrastructure and we believe that's only going to grow in the future.”

Rick Froehlich, EarthLink Executive Vice President, Products and Consumer, added: “Everything from innovative loyalty programs to the capture of valuable data relies on a secure, reliable network. Our role is to lay the infrastructure and connectivity foundation that allows them to stay one step ahead and drive continued customer engagement and business growth.”

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