By Uday Sampath Kumar and Hilary Russ
(Reuters) – McDonald’s Corp <MCD.N> said on Monday it would test a loyalty program for customers and launch a new crispy chicken sandwich next year as it refocuses its long-term strategy after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Its global sales fell 2.2% in the third quarter, the company reported on Monday, an improvement over the previous quarter’s drop, as McDonald’s had already announced in an October update.
McDonald’s beat revenue and profit estimates for the quarter as customers in the United States ordered more hamburgers and fries in drive-through outlets and on delivery apps to avoid dining out during the pandemic.
The company’s limited-time promotional deal with rapper Travis Scott, which caused shortages of some ingredients, and other marketing investments also helped sales bounce back from pandemic lows, sending its shares over 6% higher amid broader market gains.
The world’s biggest burger chain plans next year to prioritize marketing, including new packaging globally with a “modern, refreshing feel and playful touches to unify branding in markets all over the world,” it said in a statement.
McDonald’s will focus on core products such as burgers, coffee and chicken, including a new Crispy Chicken Sandwich – something some franchisees have long sought in order to compete with the success of similar products at Popeyes, a unit of Restaurant Brands International Inc <QSR.TO>, and Chick-fil-A.
It will also soon include another growth driver that other chains have long had: loyalty programs.
“MyMcDonald’s” digital program will allow customers who sign up to get tailored offers, the company said. A loyalty program using the MyMcDonald’s program will start as a pilot in coming weeks in Phoenix.
Despite some sales recovery and better-than-forecast margins, the company is still pressured in key markets outside the United States, including France, Germany and Britain by new lockdown restrictions due to a spike in coronavirus cases.
McDonald’s total revenue fell about 2% to $5.42 billion in the three months ended Sept. 30, largely recovering from the over 30% plunge posted in the second quarter.
Analysts on average had estimated revenue of $5.40 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
U.S. customer traffic still remained down from a year earlier, the company said.
Net income surged 10% to $1.76 billion, helped by gains from the sale of a part of McDonald’s stake in its Japanese affiliate.
Excluding those gains, the company earned $2.22 per share, beating estimates of $1.90.
(Reporting by Uday Sampath in Bengaluru and Hilary Russ in New York; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Bernadette Baum)
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