Dive Brief:
- Traffic at quick-service restaurants turned positive during the fourth quarter, according to data from Revenue Management Solutions.
- Fourth-quarter traffic rose 0.8% compared to the year-ago quarter, when traffic fell 1.1%.
- This report is in line with observations from Black Box Intelligence, which saw traffic and sales start to recover in September. Comparable traffic jumped 0.9% industrywide in November, per BBI.
Dive Insight:
The wave of value offerings fast food chains launched in the summer appears to be paying off. Traffic growth was largely sluggish last year for the likes of McDonald’s, Burger King and KFC, all three of which battled it out in value promotions. McDonald’s started to see traffic and sales recover during the third quarter following its $5 Meal Deal, but an E. coli outbreak in early Q4 sparked declines.
Traffic increased for QSRs in Q4 largely due to traffic spikes in October and November, RMSsaid. December’s traffic fell 1.9% compared to December 2023, however, indicating a slowdown during the holidays.
In addition to an uptick in traffic, RMS reported a net sales increase of 4% for QSRs in Q4, which includes a bump of 3.4% in average check. Average price increases slowed to 3.1% in the fourth quarter compared to double-digit average price increases at the start of 2023.
Traffic could see further improvements among QSRs as value promotions continued into January, with McDonald’s launching its long-awaited nationwide McValue platform. Del Taco also expanded its value menu and Taco Bell added menu items to its Luxe Cravings Boxes value category. As inflation improves, experts expect consumer demand for restaurants to be strong this year, despite ongoing price sensitivity.
