In 2017, cousins Jason McGowan and Sawyer Hemsley set out to build a business around one goal: baking an exceptional chocolate chip cookie. After dialing in the recipe, they opened the first Crumbl bakery in Logan, Utah. The concept took off quickly. Crumbl built a following with a rotating menu of cookies and started franchising in 2018.
From the start, Crumbl prioritized control over its digital experience. The team built its website and mobile applications in-house and developed a custom point-of-sale (POS) system. By 2020, two major shifts pushed Crumbl to rethink its payments strategy: rapid franchise growth that demanded more advanced payment capabilities, and the pandemic, which created an immediate need for contactless and curbside payments.
“We planned to run just a couple of stores, but it evolved quickly. We realized we’re going to go across the whole country and keep expanding. That’s when we knew we needed to upgrade our payment technology,” said Layne Moseley, director of engineering at Crumbl.
The Crumbl team turned to Stripe to deliver a scalable solution that could support online and in-store sales. That system has since helped Crumbl expand to more than 1,100 locations across the US and Canada, with more international growth on the horizon.
Transforming the cookie buying experience with Stripe
In 2020, Crumbl integrated multiple Stripe products to support its fast-growing franchise business and operate throughout the pandemic.
Crumbl migrated to Stripe Payments to process sales across its consumer website and mobile apps, as well as Crumbl Foods, a B2B website where franchises order baking supplies. Stripe’s developer-friendly API made it easy to integrate Payments into those custom platforms and upgrade what Moseley called a “rudimentary” online ordering system. That foundation helped Crumbl accelerate the rollout of curbside pickup during the pandemic.
“It was not going to be easy to launch a curbside offering with the platform we were on before Stripe. I don’t even know if it was possible,” said Moseley.
At the same time, Crumbl wanted a unified system for in-store transactions to simplify reporting and speed up reconciliation, so it adopted Stripe Terminal for in-person checkout. Using Terminal’s SDK, Crumbl built a custom integration with its in-house iPad-based POS at each location. The team then added Stripe Reader M2 devices to take customer orders and payments through a mobile setup that fit Crumbl’s modern in-store experience.
“Terminal’s so easy for our franchises to set up—it only takes about five to 10 minutes. We’ve never had any reliability issues. It’s always working, which is incredibly important for us—more than 60% of our overall sales flow through Terminal,” said Moseley.
In 2024, Crumbl upgraded its checkout with Stripe’s Optimized Checkout Suite, which offers prebuilt payment UIs, access to more than 100 payment methods, and Link—a digital wallet built by Stripe. Using the embedded payment element, Crumbl’s team can now turn on new payment methods with the click of a button, and Stripe’s Adaptive Pricing automatically presents prices in customers’ local currency to increase conversions.
As part of the Optimized Checkout Suite, Crumbl enabled Link, so customers can check out faster using their preferred payment method. With Link, Crumbl can also offer Instant Bank Payments, helping lower payment processing costs while keeping checkout simple within the same integration. Since enabling Link, Crumbl has increased returning customer conversion by 6%.
Stripe saves us from months of engineering time and massive costs if we were to build these payment solutions ourselves. Instead, we can test a new payment method immediately.
Crumbl also uses the AI-powered Stripe Authorization Boost to improve authorization rates and reduce avoidable payment failures: Adaptive Acceptance uses AI to improve credit card acceptance; network tokens help prevent declines and reduce unnecessary retries, which can also lower costs; and the card account updater automatically updates credit card information when a customer’s card expires or is replaced to prevent payment failures.
Together, these optimizations make checkout more reliable for customers and help Crumbl recover revenue that might otherwise be lost. Since implementing Authorization Boost, Crumbl has had a 300% return on investment.
Managing a global franchise model
When Crumbl implemented Payments and Terminal, the company also added Stripe Connect to manage onboarding and process payouts for its franchises.
Two internal developers integrated Connect into Crumbl’s internal Crew app, which is used by franchises to manage each bakery. Using a Stripe-hosted onboarding flow, each new franchise submits the required banking and compliance information in their region, which enables them to get set up in minutes and begin accepting customer payments through the website, mobile applications, and Terminal.
As customers purchase cookies at each location, those payments flow into Connect and are disbursed to the correct franchise’s linked bank account. This approach gives franchises faster access to revenue and simplifies franchise payouts for Crumbl.
Crumbl also launched Radar for Fraud Teams to help protect its franchises from fraud. With Radar for Fraud Teams, Crumbl can now customize risk thresholds unique to its business model.
In 2024, Crumbl partnered with Stripe’s professional services team on a two-month fraud strategy engagement to optimize Radar rules to reduce dispute rates and improve the way the team responds to disputes.
After analyzing Crumbl’s fraud patterns and processes, Stripe’s professional services team recommended new business and monitoring processes with Radar to reduce fraud, disputes, and refunds. They also hosted training sessions on fraud mitigation and best practices. As a result, Crumbl saw a 62% reduction in disputes.
We adjust Radar when Stripe recommends it, and then we don’t really have to worry about fraud or needing to hands-on manage the solution. It just always works.
Simplifying Crumbl’s international expansion
In less than 10 years, Crumbl has grown into a global franchise with bakeries in all 50 states, Canada, and Puerto Rico. The company is in the process of opening a franchise location in Mexico, with Australia planned next.
Stripe’s payments infrastructure simplifies many aspects of the cookie chain’s global expansion. For example, with Connect, Crumbl can now onboard international franchises and ensure required compliance documentation is captured correctly.
Crumbl also uses the Optimized Checkout Suite to turn on local payment methods as it enters new markets, ensuring customers around the world can purchase cookies using their preferred payment methods and currencies.
This flexibility allows Crumbl to stay focused on growth without taking on the operational burden that comes with managing payments at increasing scale.
Our partnership with Stripe has been so significant to our business. They’ve always been invested in our success and proactively recommending ideas to improve our payment experience for our customers—so we can focus on making the best desserts in the world.
