McDonald's Extends $5 Meal Deal

By: M. Scott Morris
Published: August 14th, 2024

In late June, McDonald's released its $5 Meal Deal. It was intended as a limited-time promotion but was recently extended at least through the end of August. Numerator analyzed purchasing data from the first three weeks of the deal (June 25–July 14) and surveyed verified buyers of the Meal Deals to gain insight into consumer sentiment around the deals. Here's what they learned:

• 24% of McDonald's customers bought the $5 Meal Deal in the first three weeks post-launch.
• 70% of Meal Deal buyers tried the McDouble Meal Deal and 30% tried the McChicken Meal Deal; 12% of buyers tried both.
• Buyers of the Meal Deal skew low income, urban, Black, and Hispanic, and their annual buy rate at McDonald's is $921 vs. $738 compared to all McDonald's customers.
• McDonald's gained 0.5 points in total limited-service restaurant share in the last four weeks ending July 14 compared to the four weeks prior.
• 98% of Meal Deal buyers were already eating at McDonald's during the year leading up to the Meal Deal launch.
• Meal Deal buyers spent 1.25 times the average at McDonald's in the year leading up to the Meal Deal launch and gave McDonald's 28.5% of their LSR dollars vs. 20.7% for all McDonald's guests.
• 70% of buyers say the Meal Deal was involved in their choice to visit McDonald's with 58% saying the deal made them choose McDonald's instead of a different restaurant, including Burger King (20% said they chose McDonald's instead of Burger King), Wendy's (18%), Taco Bell (16%), and Chick-fil-A (15%).
• 91% of Meal Deal buyers are likely to repurchase, and 59% say they will visit McDonald's more frequently if the restaurant keeps the Meal Deal on the menu.

Promotional shifts

Numerator also studied the past month's promotional landscape. Here's a look at the Promo Shift Dashboard's results:

• Overall promotional volume was down in June 2024 (-2.8% vs. 2023) after a spike in May.
• Web promotions, which accounted for nearly three-quarters of the overall promotional volume, were also down (-2.3% vs. 2023).
• Temporary price reductions (TPRs) continue to grow year over year (+20% vs. 2023).
• The top retailers using digital TPRs in June 2024 were Jewel-Osco, Acme Markets, Albertsons, Meijer, and Safeway.
• National brands continue to drive the bulk of promotion volume, accounting for 88% of all ad blocks in June. The distribution between national and private label brand promotions has remained relatively consistent for the past year.

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