McDonald's has started an eight-week pilot of new low-priced menu options at 1,900 US locations as inflation-weary customers trade down.
By the numbers: US comparable sales rose 0.2% in the third quarter against 2.4% in the same period last year. Foot traffic at US stores ran 4.6% below a year ago, per Placer.ai data cited by CBS News.
Zoom in: Chief executive Christopher Kempczinski told analysts the chain is also testing mix and match bundles to see which combinations drive sales, with a national launch targeted for 2027.
What they're saying: Kempczinski said the company has fallen short of what low-income diners want in entry-level value. "We talked quite extensively about how in Q2 we didn’t land that like we needed to," he told investors.
- Gasoline prices have risen 38% since the start of the war in Iran, according to AAA data, and a larger share of lower-income budgets goes to fuel.
The big picture: Affordability dominated Tuesday’s midterms, with candidates up and down the ballot campaigning on the cost of living and on bringing pump prices down.
- Low-income consumers "are disproportionately feeling the effect of higher food and gasoline prices," Oxford Economics chief global economist Ryan Sweet said Wednesday at an event in New York.
Why it matters: McDonald's is the clearest read on what American households can afford, and rebuilding the value menu signals the company expects the squeeze on its cheapest customers to last into 2027.
