Wingstop calls itself “the wing experts.”

But Michael Skipworth, CEO of the 2,800-location fast casual chicken chain, likes to highlight a different distinction he’s proud of, having nothing to do with food. “People don’t think about a chicken wing restaurant being a digital powerhouse,” Skipworth tells me.

Today, after spending years taking cues from outside the restaurant industry—airlines, beauty brands—he has built exactly that: a thriving e-commerce business that just happens to sell America’s favorite protein.

In the second quarter of 2025, diners spent more than $1 billion at the 31-year-old chain, ordering wings—boneless and bone-in—and chicken tenders in custom combinations of 12 flavors ranging from Original Hot to Spicy Korean Q to Mango Habanero. (Popeye’s, for comparison, r

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