What you’ll read:
- A look back at Dairy Queen’s digital presence from 1998 to now.
Dairy Queen has been around since 1940 — and has been a staple of Americana ever since. Today, there are over 4,400 Dairy Queen locations in the US — and another 2,400 around the globe. All told, the company now typically sees over $3 billion in annual revenues.
Consumers have felt Dairy Queen’s physical presence for decades.
Buthow does the company’s digital presence stack up?
1998-2000: DairyQueen.com’s Vanilla Beginnings
The first iteration of Dairy Queen’s website is, in a word, vanilla.
Though the site is pretty plain, it also provides a decent amount of value — specifically in the form of information.
The information mostly focuses on backend business processes, such as franchising, employee training, and branded charitable events.
There’s almost no information on the site about their actual food-related products. Really, the image of the ice cream cone above is about the only product-related content we can find.
However, the site shows some early signs of “going ecommerce” even back then.
Though online ordering of any kind was still years away, Dairy Queen was already on the bandwagon from the start.
2004: Dairy Queen Tries “Something Different”
By 2004, Dairy Queen had a new slogan — which its website was already using.
At this point, the website is clearly aimed at Dairy Queen’s actual customers.
For one, the site has a much more branded appearance.
The site is also much more navigable, both in functionality and design. In terms of functionality, the sidebar allows users to quickly find the page they’re looking for.
This updated version of DQ’s website also offers a lot more information. Most notably, visitors can now find comprehensive information on Dairy Queen’s products.
The website also began promoting specific menu items during different times of the year.
Dairy Queen eventually created a standalone IDQ Merchandise site. Unfortunately, not much from this site has been archived from this era.
Finally, we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention the addition of a Flash-based “Kids” section on DQ’s website. Of course, since the so-called “DQLabs” website requires the now-defunct Flash, we can’t dig too deep into the digital experience here.
DQ’s site improvements show that the team is on the right track — and gives some clear hints as to what’s to come in the near future.
2008: Branding and CX Come Into Focus
Four years later, Dairy Queen again tried “something different.”
The first thing we noticed here is the improved use of digital real estate: Almost every inch of the screen is used to convey a certain message or prompt a specific action.
Font choice and appearance are also more intentional throughout the site.
This slight shift away from plaintext shows a greater attention to detail, delivering a more branded user experience. The same can be said for the use of buttons over hypertext links.
Building on past versions of the site, DQ continues to bulk up its promotional and informational content.
On the promotional side, we saw featured product pages that include:
- Health-related product info
- Hi-res product photos
- Suggested side orders
…and more.
The site also showcased a ton of company- and brand-related info, as well.
And their FAQ page gave visitors the information they needed without having to dig too far.
We’re also seeing DQ promote a sense of community through its Children’s Miracle Network initiative.
Though not necessarily enabling community engagement on-site, this did bring DQ fans together for a common cause.
Finally, Dairy Queen’s approach to ecommerce also evolved. Using a standalone website, DQ’s ecommerce takes a much more user-friendly appearance.
However, the buying process is still pretty rudimentary, with customers having to fill out a basic form to place their order.
As you’ll see, this is one area where Dairy Queen continually struggles to meet the evolving status quo.
2012: Things Start to Click
For the most part, Dairy Queen’s website took all that worked before and added to or improved upon it as needed.
Headers, footers, and consistent call-to-action buttons ensure visitors can quickly navigate to the pages they’re looking for:
And, the site continues to provide important health and nutritional information relating to DQ’s products.
Flash is now a bit more prevalent on the site to present the restaurant’s menu and related information. Unfortunately there’s no way to know what this looked like at this point.
The Blizzard Fan Club has also been improved, with more content and interactivity injected throughout.
On the note of interactivity, DQ entered the realm of mobile apps — although there’s not much information as to what it offered at the time. Based on what we can see, it mainly served as a store locator.
Lastly, we visit DQ’s ecommerce shop — which has actually improved quite significantly.
Overall, this iteration of Dairy Queen’s website didn’t offer too much in terms of new content or experiences. However, the improvements made show that the team has a clear idea of what works — and what to focus on moving forward
2017: A Modern Approach
By 2017, DairyQueen.com had undergone a major overhaul.
From both an aesthetic and functional point-of-view, the site has taken on a more modern look and feel.
There’s more intentional and complete use of digital real estate — with carousels and the like allowing for additional content without overwhelming the visitor. The sitemap on the homepage’s footer is also more fleshed-out, making it easier for visitors to get where they’re going.
(Note that Dairy Queen has also added links to their social media pages — creating an omnichannel” presence).
At this point, Dairy Queen had moved on from Flash — which made their interactive menus and content more accessible.
As you can see, it’s now incredibly easy for visitors to find food facts and other need-to-know information about DQ’s products. Their FAQ page, for example, follows the same template:
That said, the same template is also used on DQ’s News page…and it’s not all that intuitive.
There also seems to be less blog-style content on this version of DQ’s site. The newly-reinvented Blizzard Fan Club looks like a regular newsletter
Oddly enough, DQ’s Red Ribbon site remains unchanged — despite the team introducing an entirely new ecommerce site.
DQCollectibles is not only more modern in appearance, but also in functionality and user experience.
2021: Refined and Refocused
Like many of the other websites we’ve showcased, Dairy Queen’s website today takes on a more longform appearance.
There’s more content — and each separate asset takes up much more of the screen. Still, the use of whitespace and scrolling makes for a streamlined, uncluttered browsing experience even just on the homepage.
Individual product pages also pack a ton of information into a single space — allowing visitors to expand on different sections as needed.
One area that DQ has clearly focused on is the news-related section of their site.
The newly dubbed Press Room and Media Center act as central hubs for all DQ-related content coming down the pike. And, in contrast to the previous iteration, this content is now presented in a much more standardized format.
For more customer- and community-focused content, you’ll need to head over to DQ’s Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter pages:
Finally — and perhaps most surprisingly — DQ’s Red Ribbon site is still far behind the times.
This is made all the more strange by the fact that DQCollectibles — which showed some promise in terms of ecommerce success — is no longer active.
But, of course, Dairy Queen isn’t a clothing store — so it’s understandable that its ecommerce efforts haven’t exactly been up to snuff.
Customers can now order certain food items (e.g., cakes) directly on Dairy Queen’s website and via its mobile app. The user interface here isquite friendly.
Overall, the current iteration of Dairy Queen’s website is objectively the best version yet.
- It’s aesthetically pleasing and user-friendly
- It includes tons of information — and presents it all in a digestible manner
- The recreational “extras” truly provide additional value to visitors — and aren’t mere gimmicks
Now, if you’ll excuse me, it’s time for a banana split…