McDonald's customers are looking for value. Some say they aren't finding it there.
Patrons of the Golden Arches told Business Insider that they're not impressed with the chain's prices lately. Some are reducing their visits and are critical of the food quality delivered for the cost. While McDonald's still has fans, some diners are reducing their visits.
McDonald's executives have acknowledged that they've had trouble breaking through to customers. The company's shares are down 9.6% this year.
US sales growth slowed during the chain's second quarter, it said Tuesday. CEO Chris Kempczinski pointed to trouble rolling out an under-$3 value menu — ranging from burgers and breakfast sandwiches to soft drinks — and running too many promotions at once as reasons why the chain struggled during its second quarter.
Kempczinski said that McDonald's had execution problems, but that its strategy is sound. The customers who spoke to Business Insider had their own thoughts, especially about prices.
Steve Armstrong, a retiree in Louisiana, said that he goes to Burger King because he thinks its Whopper represents a better value and is higher-quality than burgers at McDonald's.
"There's better food out there," Armstrong said. "And if you want people's money, you need to step up."
Christoph Winarski, who goes to McDonald's about once a week, said he's noticed menu prices rising over the past few years and is rethinking his habit.
"When you can get a meal from a sit-down restaurant for the same price that you get from a fast-food meal, I think that's kind of where the tipping point is," he said.
McDonald's has a value issue, customers say
Out of 227 people who responded to a Business Insider reader survey asking them to rate the value that they got for their money while dining at McDonald's, about 57% — 130 people — responded "poor" or "very poor." The survey was not scientific but showed that price and value for money were key factors they use to decide whether or not they eat at McDonald's.
Brian Schnabel said that he often stops at McDonald's while driving between his home in New York City and visiting friends in Maryland.
He hasn't ordered from the chain's under-$3 menu lately, he said, because he finds it overpriced. "If it were $1, it might be worth it," he said, referring to the dollar menu that McDonald's scrapped in 2013.
Instead, Schnabel said his go-to order at McDonald's is the Chicken Snack Wrap, which consists of fried chicken covered in lettuce, cheese, and a tortilla and costs $2.99 at the locations that he visits.
Schnabel said he thinks the snack wrap is a good deal.
"It's out of character, almost, for McDonald's to offer something at $3 which is so substantial and fills me up," he said.
Some responses to Business Insider's survey echoed the sentiment.
"I am not going to McDonald's as much since the in-app deals were cut back," one person wrote, adding that they liked a 2019 promotion that allowed diners to get a second sandwich, such as a Big Mac, for $1 when they ordered one at full price.
"To be honest, there's far better out there for my dollar," another said. "Unless something REALLY changes, I won't be going back."
Some said they liked McDonald's new value menu. "I have gone back to McDonald's only since the new value meals," one wrote. "They are an outstanding deal!"
Value versus meal deals
Mike Perry, founder and creative officer at Tavern, an agency that works with restaurant and hospitality clients, said that McDonald's should consider other ways of pitching its under-$3 selection.
Instead of trying to sell it as a "value" menu, it could make more sense to offer the items as add-ons to full meals or refocus on meal deals, such as the $5 meal that McDonald's introduced in 2024. "I would just never say the word 'value,' frankly," he said.
Other chains, such as Chili's, have successfully drawn in customers by focusing on meal deals like the Triple Dipper instead of value menus with cheap à la carte items, Perry said. That approach also tends to help restaurants' bottom line in the long run, he added.
"You can only sell so many dollar hamburgers," he said.
Do you have a story idea about McDonald's? Contact this reporter at [email protected] or via encrypted messaging app Signal at 808-854-4501. Use a personal email address, a nonwork WiFi network, and a nonwork device; here's our guide to sharing information securely.
Read next
Alex Bitter is a senior retail reporter covering the gig economy, food, and retail. His work focuses major gig delivery and ride-hailing apps, including Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, Instacart, and Walmart's Spark. He is interested in everything from what it's like to work on the apps to the companies' business strategies.Some of his recent stories feature gig workers who have been deactivated on the apps, DoorDash hiring traditional employees to make deliveries, gig workers' use of bots, and gig work expanding into new professions, such as nursing.Alex has also written about Aldi's US expansion, Starbucks' turnaround efforts, and the fallout from Kraft-Heinz's budget cutting. Convenience store chain Sheetz ended its "smile policy" after his reporting.Before joining Insider in September 2020, he wrote about consumer and retail companies for S&P Global Market Intelligence. He's a graduate of the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa and grew up on the Big Island.Alex lives in the Washington, DC, area, where you can find him studying ancient coins or searching for Civil War artifacts with his metal detector in his free time.Got a tip? Reach out at [email protected] or via encrypted messaging app Signal at +1 (808) 854-4501.
