McDonald’s loyalty scheme will bring smarter pricing

With its expanding loyalty scheme, McDonald’s hopes it will get to be even smarter with its pricing methodology.

The company has outlined that maintaining the balance between price growth and footfall growth is a “North Star” for the business. CEO Chris Kempczinski believes that it is a brand that is set up well to get that balance right.

Furthermore, Kempczinski believes that 2024 will continue to see consumers be more discriminating with their money, but despite this, he feels that McDonald’s has the toolkit to continue to grow this year. 

Leading this toolkit is the brand’s loyalty scheme. 

In 2023, McDonald’s saw sales to loyalty members reach over £15.96bn which was up 45% compared to 2022 levels, with 150 million active users of its schemes.

Whilst pleased with these numbers, McDonald’s has set itself the task of getting 250 million active scheme members by 2027. The company believes its best opportunity to acquire new customers and build more frequent and more valuable customers is through aggressively investing in digital and technology.

Particular focus has been placed on the ‘Festive Wins’ in the UK initiative it currently runs, which has given McDonald’s users chances to win prizes and access to special offers each day in November. A move that boosted digital engagement to an “all-time high” for McDonald’s UK and has helped generate four million active monthly customers.

Another way in which McDonald’s has tried to build loyalty is through highlighting the ‘One McDonald’s Way’ approach, which sees it scale its “best ideas” in marketing through common tools and processes that help it maximise return on investment.

Furthermore, McDonald’s ability to innovate is one way in which it can build loyalty. A year ago, the company set up a new business venture team designed to operate as a startup within McDonald’s. The team identified an opportunity for the brand in its key markets in the beverage-led category. This led to a trial launch of CosMc’s, a small format ten restaurant trial focused on beverages and treats.

All of this saw their global comparable sales grow 9% versus 2022 levels. An exciting time ahead for McDonald’s.