Is McDonald's Digital and Loyalty Push Paying Off in Key Markets?

McDonald's Corporation MCD continues to lean into its digital and loyalty capabilities as a core pillar of the growth strategy, especially amid macroeconomic pressures and uneven global traffic trends. 

On the first-quarter 2025 earnings call, management reaffirmed its confidence in the long-term value of digital engagement, even as broader consumer weakness, particularly among lower and middle-income cohorts, weighed on comparable sales.

In the United States, the company highlighted the role of its app-based digital offers and the McValue platform in stabilizing guest count. Although total U.S. comp sales declined 3.6% during the quarter, McDonald’s outperformed many peers in guest traffic, aided by personalized digital promotions and in-app exclusive deals. The recent nationwide $5 Meal Deal and the Buy One, Add One for $1 offer were driven primarily through the app, reinforcing the platform’s centrality to customer engagement and spend.

Internationally, digital loyalty adoption is yielding similar benefits. In France, Germany and Canada, markets where McDonald’s has successfully implemented everyday value menus and meal bundles, loyalty program traction and digital ordering have supported market share gains despite declining QSR traffic. Canada, in particular, benefited from a high-performing “Hockey Showdown” digital campaign, which lifted both engagement and sandwich category sales.

Customer satisfaction scores hit all-time highs in the United States and key international markets, a testament to the success of streamlined digital channels and personalized rewards. While McDonald’s remains cautious about near-term consumer sentiment, the data-driven marketing, loyalty expansion and digital-first strategies are helping it navigate through industry turbulence and emerge more competitive in key geographies.

Competitors Push Ahead With Digital and Loyalty Innovations

As McDonald’s ramps up its digital and loyalty efforts, key competitors, like Starbucks Corporation SBUX and Yum! Brands, Inc. YUM (parent of KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut), are also sharpening their focus on tech-driven customer engagement.

Starbucks remains a benchmark in loyalty with its Rewards program, which boasts more than 34 million active U.S. members. The company’s mobile app accounts for a significant share of U.S. transactions, enabling targeted offers and frictionless payments. Starbucks’ success in digital personalization continues to drive frequency and ticket growth, especially among affluent customers, a segment also showing resilience for McDonald’s.

Meanwhile, Yum! Brands is aggressively expanding its digital ecosystem. Taco Bell’s loyalty membership recently crossed 60 million globally, while KFC is integrating more AI-based ordering and delivery enhancements. Yum’s digital sales hit a record 45% of total sales, indicating robust loyalty integration and app-based convenience.

Together, these players are raising the bar, pushing McDonald’s to continually evolve its digital strategy.

MCD’s Price Performance, Valuation and Estimates

McDonald’s shares have gained 16.7% in the past year, outperforming the industry’s 10.6% growth.

Price Performance

In terms of its forward 12-month price-to-earnings ratio, MCD is trading at 22.93, down from the industry’s 25.89.

P/E (F12M)

Over the past 60 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for MCD’s 2025 earnings per share has increased in the past 30 days, as shown in the chart.

MCD currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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