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McDonald’s sales disappoint in US despite all-day breakfast

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New002

Member
Simpler menu with a focus on higher quality ingredients, or simpler menu with a focus on reducing prices (like bringing back the dollar menu). If they can figure out a way to lower prices and raise the quality of the ingredients, even better.
 
I don't remember the last time I went to McDonalds or any fast food spot. I'm a health nut now. I'd rather spend an extra 5 bucks somewhere else to eat healthier then go to McDonalds.
 
It's seriously the price that's the issue. If I want cheap crap food I go to Taco Bell now, and if I want something a little nicer I can go to a sit down restaurant and get a burger and fries for the same price as a meal from Mcdonalds.
 

Cptkrush

Member
McPick 2 for 2, 2 for 3, and 2 for 5 need to be on menu full time, and should have mix and match. Right now it's just McPick 2 for 3 and those choices are pretty bad on their own, but if I could get a QPWC and a 6 Piece for $4 I'd be stoked.
 

blakep267

Member
The all day breakfast thing was never going to work out because they didn't offer the full menu. Here in PA they only have mcmuffins and pancakes. No bagels, biscuits or mcgriddles

Also the price is getting out of hand. A mcgriddle meal is like almost $6.00. That's ridiculous. A Mcdouble is now like $1.40 or something around there. When it used to be $1 years ago. The one i go to doesn't even have a dollar menu anymore. Also nobody is ordering there artisan burgers at all. It just seems to take up space. They also got rid of al but 1 salad option
 

Acerac

Banned
I get a hashbrown or biscuit once in a while, but still the rest of their menu is garbage except for those
Spicy McChickens.

They discontinues them in Buffalo, NY. Apparently they are not aware that people in this area enjoy their spicy chicken.
 

Charcoal

Member
I not an armchair analyst by any means, but I think they really need to focus on condensing their menu. Keep 5 or 6 core items, make them the best they possibly can, and throw out all the other shit.
 
I get a hashbrown or biscuit once in a while, but still the rest of their menu is garbage except for those
Spicy McChickens.

No spicy mcChickens here, Chik-fil-A is out of the way, and Wendy's gave me foodpoisoning the last time Iw as there :(

Feels bad, man. I think I'll just start making my own spicy chicken.
 
The all day breakfast thing was never going to work out because they didn't offer the full menu. Here in PA they only have mcmuffins and pancakes. No bagels, biscuits or mcgriddles

My local McDonald's and maybe all I've seen/been to have completely eliminated bagels, even from the breakfast menus.
 

Fatalah

Member
This year, I've been visiting McDonald's more. Android Pay works pretty consistently, and the store I frequent is conveniently located for me.

There's one in Penn Station in NYC, so I often pick up a cold or hot coffee in the morning. If I'm headed home late, I pick up something for the long train ride home -- like a fruit smoothie or chicken nuggets.

The McDonald's app is pretty helpful -- the coupons and coffee punch card are nice to have.
 

B!TCH

how are you, B!TCH? How is your day going, B!ITCH?
Maybe it's related to the disgusting moldy food they serve in their restaurants, but I'm no expert, maybe some people like a side of mold with their soggy burgers?
 
I went there at 3:00 AM after the all day breakfast thing had started and tried to order a sausage biscuit, they told me they couldn't serve them until 4. So how about trying all night breakfast!

Also once the price of the McDouble and the sausage biscuit increased, i decided to go elsewhere (usually Sonic).
 
Make a good deal on the cheaper stuff (McDoubles, Fries, McNuggets) like the Mcpick nonsense earlier but communicate it effectively and keep it for more than 10 minutes.

I haven't gone to McDonalds in like 6 months because the last time I was there the McPick promotion at the time had expired, it was like it's 3rd iteration.

I literally drove away without ordering anything and won't go back until they decide how the hell they're going to give me a good deal on food there because there's no way I'm going to Mcdonalds for food and spend as much as I would at Culver's or Portillos

Never happening.

what does this mean?

Fear that a trump presidency will ruin the economy. Better start saving now!
 

Jarlaxle

Member
I don't often go to McDonald's much anymore but found myself there one night on vacation with the kids a couple of weeks ago.

They had a promotion going on that said McPick 2 where you could order from a number of items on the menu and two of them would come to $2.50. I ordered three double cheeseburgers, ketchup and cheese only and a 6 piece chicken nugget. All of these items were on the promotion menu.

Along with my wife and kid's orders the total came to $20.03. I originally handed the clerk a $20.00 bill and a $1.00 bill. Then my wife quickly gave me a dime which I gave to the clerk, expecting to get the $1.00 bill back along with $.07. She told me unfortunately she had already entered the amount in the system as $21.00. I explained that she could just give me the dollar back and the 7 cents change as opposed to 97 cents worth of change. She looked at me like I had 3 heads and eventually took my dime and gave me back 107 cents worth of change. So then I asked her if I could get a dollar bill for the 100 cents worth of change she had given me and she did it finally.

After sitting down to eat, I look at my receipt and see that I hadn't been charged correct for the McPick 2 and instead was charged the individual prices for each. I was a little upset with this as it was the entire reason I had ordered as much as I had because of the deal and as I was discussing this with my wife after having finished my first Double Cheeseburger, I bit into my second one to find Pickles, Onions, and Mustard. I threw it down and looked at the third burger which was the same.

She had somehow put through one double cheeseburger with the appropriate ketchup and cheese only and had input the other two with no ketchup and no cheese which actually would have been more work.

Needless to say I left disgusted (not just with myself for once at eating at McDonald's) and won't be returning anytime soon.
 

SummitAve

Banned
Just to clarify, you believe cost, convenience, and speed are not a big proponent of McDonald's business model, right?

McDonalds...

I believe their current business model is combining the long held perception of McDonald's being cheap and fast with manipulative drug-like food. I don't believe they actually are cheap or fast.
 

CoryCubed

Member
McDonalds is getting a weird stigma around where I live, people get uptight about how they don't eat there, like being vegan, vaping, drinking, or not smoking cigarettes.
 

Sorcerer

Member
I just want like, a McDouble and fries when I go there. Every time I see someone order one of the newer sandwiches that inevitably get phased out they look awful. And they cost around the same as a far better burger from any number of places.

Maybe they should try shoveling out piles of fries, basic burgers, and a couple breakfast menu favorites instead of constantly puttering around with the menu? Simplify the kitchen, get people served faster.

All day breakfast not being a game changer isn't a surprise, really... Most of that menu is a little food for a lot of money. You can go to a diner and spend about the same with a tip, and get your coffee refilled.

I thought I read that the all breakfast was really popular, and there was less demand for everything else on the menu.
 

FyreWulff

Member
I want all day burgers instead. Especially on third shift when you get off work and want "dinner" and all your choices are eggs and sausage.

Also they should have kept the Jalapeno McDouble. That was their best burger.
 
I feel like they need to pick an identity and stick with it. Are they fast? Are they cheap? Or are they premium? It feels like they are trying to be all 3 at once and failing completely. They got rid of the items I used to buy from them (snack wraps, chicken selects, and southern style chicken). Now it seems the the items I have to choose from are shitty or too expensive to justify buying them as fast food.
 

Istaerion

Member
Ever since a burger joint opened up near my location called The Habit, I've seen absolutely no need to get fast food let alone McDonald's as they offer crazy quality and various options at a price-point near or equivalent of those seen at your average Fast Food joint.
 
Their food needs less salt in it. I can only taste salt when I eat something from there. I used to love their sausage biscuits, but good gravy, I can only get through about three bites of one now before the salt content overwhelms me. I have no clue how I used to eat this stuff all the time.

I don't use a ton of salt in my cooking at home (I tend to rely on many, many different spices and herbs), so I think my body has adjusted to that. If they had a low-sodium version of some of the food they have there, I might go there if I were hungry and away from home. I drive quite a bit as an adjunct instructor, and today I was so hungry for something more substantial than an apple and some trail mix on my way in, but I couldn't get over the idea of ingesting that much sodium and just drove past the McDonald's. I chose to remain hungry.
 
Another interesting angle to this is that some McD franchisees are complaining that the cheaper breakfast options are hurting overall sales:

http://www.eater.com/2015/10/16/9553041/mcdonalds-all-day-breakfast-disaster-franchisees-upset

"A recent survey of 29 McDonald's franchise operators reported on by Nation's Restaurant News finds that many are stressing out over all-day breakfast. One is quoted as saying, "In small stores, the problems are vast with people falling over each other and equipment jammed in everywhere." Others complain that check averages are falling due to the availability of lower-priced breakfast items"
 
The 2 for $2.50 and breakfast 2 for $3.50 deals are the only thing I get at McDonald's,
nothing else on the menu really interests me or I know at that price I'm better served
heading to another place. The choices on the deals also vary by location it seems, so
often even when I would eat at McDonalds I pass on it because of that as well.
 

iPaul93

Member
They need to improve the quality of their products and lower the prices if they want to stand a chance in the future.
 

Rootbeer

Banned
The problem is they don't have mcgriddles on the all day breakfast. Sorry but that's a major handicap for me.

All day breakfast was a nice change, but I don't think it really got to the heart of the issue. Their menu is just not exciting. In recent years they have cut down the menu a ton and focused on a few items. They no longer introduce new, interesting menu items to try. That's what I loved about McDonald's! I can go in and try something new and interesting once in a while. Course, their restaurants in other parts of the world get all sorts of interesting menu items. For some reason, they are VERY conservative in the USA when it comes to doing anything new. And so it just feeds into this circle of a boring menu, and when you have food that is not high quality, not exceptional in any way, and never switches it up... people just go somewhere else.

(Also want to state McD's always has the most disgusting people hanging around their stores and they seem totally inept in managing that. Way more than ANYWHERE else. I'm pro reform when it comes to dealing with the homeless and mental health issues we are having in many parts of the country, but nobody wants to deal with that when trying to eat. Sorry.)

The Good: I like the current 2 for 2.50 menu they have going. I accept McDoubles can't be $1 forever, and a while back they raised them to like $1.69 each in my area, so being able to get 2 for $2.50 is a bargain.

If they aren't going to expand on quality, then they need to expand on value. Right now you have the "2 for" menu which is very reasonable, and everything else is like ~$6 and up! where's the middle ground? I'm not gonna buy the $6 or $7 burgers when I know the 2 for $2.50 burgers are made from the same ingredients only in a smaller form and at way better value.
 
I don't understand their obsession with speed.

I mean, I understand it from their perspective - maximize the money per ticket per hour - but it really doesn't do shit for me if I have to wait 30 seconds or 5 minutes if I'm getting the better product freshly prepared.

The reality of the world is that most stores pull at least 60% revenue from Drive-thru sales.

DT customers are notoriously impatient. If they show up to a store and the line is too long, they leave.
 

Muffdraul

Member
I never wanted them to do all-day breakfast. IMO all they had to do was extend breakfast to noon or even 11:30. 10:30 was always an idiotic time for the switch. Who in the fuck wants lunch at 10:31 AM?

Anybody who says "me" will be banned.
 

jmood88

Member
After realizing that the sausage biscuits taste worse now, it has kept me from going to McDonald's. Maybe they should start giving their franchisees some money to ensure hag the ice cream machines don't break down every evening.
 
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