McDonald’s Struggles to Maintain All-Day Breakfast Momentum

QSR reported fourth quarter results, suggesting the lure of all-day breakfast may be slowing down.

January 24, 2017

OAK BROOK, Ill. – This week McDonald's announced 2016 results, noting that fourth quarter comparable sales declined 1.3% in the U.S., reflecting the challenging comparison against the prior year launch of all-day breakfast.

Fortune reports that McDonald’s debut of an all-day breakfast menu in October 2015 saw an immediate sales jolt, which helped boost the QSR’s U.S. sales. In the fourth quarter of 2015, comparable sales increased 5.7%—the best quarter McDonald's had reported in nearly four years, notes the news source. Throughout most of 2016, sales continued to hum along smoothly as all-day breakfast lured customers that were persuaded to buy the company's Egg McMuffin or hash browns for lunch or other parts of the day.

Entering 2017, McDonald's says its U.S. locations will continue to focus on growing guest traffic.

"For McDonald's, 2016 was a year of purposeful change as we focused on the key elements of our turnaround plan,” McDonald's President and CEO Steve Easterbrook said in a press statement. “As we begin the first quarter of 2017, we are mindful of the comparison we face against first quarter 2016 results, which benefitted from leap year, favorable weather and continued momentum from all-day breakfast in the U.S."

Meanwhile, the Daily Herald reports that the slowdown from all-day breakfast “leaves McDonald's in search of its next big source of U.S. growth.” That growth could come from technology, such as touchscreen ordering and mobile ordering. 

Read more on all-day breakfast and how convenience stores are meeting consumer demand in the NACS Magazine cover story, “The Most Important Meal All Day.”

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement