McDonald's loses customers amid inflation and competition

McDonald's is facing challenges in attracting customers. The $5 Sausage McMuffin promotion did not work, nor did the $6 combo featuring Filet-O-Fish and Chicken McNuggets. CEO Chris Kempczinski is trying to win back consumers, but McDonald's growth in the U.S. continues to decline, with visits down 4.5% in the first half of 2026, according to Placer.ai. Shares have fallen 32% from their peak in February. Kempczinski acknowledged in August that the influx of new menu items and promotions has overwhelmed restaurants and harmed service. Franchisees, who own 95% of the restaurants, are unhappy with the request to spend $1 million on upgrading each location.

In the last quarter, comparable sales in the U.S. grew only by 0.8%, while Burger King saw a jump of 8.5%. Kempczinski noted, "We need to be the first choice for more customers more often," presenting the "McDonald's > Next" strategy. The U.S. accounts for 40% of revenue, or $10 billion a year, and beef prices in August were 5.9% higher than a year earlier, nearly doubling over five years.

Burger King has updated half of its restaurants as part of the "Reclaim the Flame" initiative and increased Whopper sales by 20%, while its response ad featuring President Tom Curtis outperformed Kempczinski's unsuccessful campaign. McDonald's holds 11% of the U.S. fast-food market with sales five times higher than Burger King. Kempczinski announced a 10-year support plan for franchisees totaling $8.5 billion, of which $5 billion is allocated by 2030. Plans include increasing market share in chicken and beverages by 1.5 percentage points by 2030, testing hand-breaded chicken, protein bowls for GLP-1 users, sodas with Red Bull, and implementing AI through chatbots and voice ordering at drive-thrus.