McDonald's fixed customers' top two complaints - and sales are soaring
Sales at restaurants open at least a year jumped 6.2% globally, including a 5.4% increase in the US, for the first quarter. In addition, quarterly profit rose 35% over the previous year.
"Our turnaround is taking hold," McDonald's CEO Steve Easterbrook said in a statement Friday.
McDonald's said the launch of all-day breakfast in October and new McPick 2 promotions are driving the sales momentum.
Customers have long begged McDonald's to make its breakfast menu available all day.
Since the launch, customers have been ordering breakfast menu items on the side with their meals during lunch and dinner hours, driving up ticket prices during those times, Easterbrook said.
The McPick 2 promotions have also addressed a top complaint: that the McDonald's menu didn't offer enough value options.
The burger chain upset many customers two years ago when it reformulated the Dollar Menu by axing the $1 price ceiling and turning it into the "Dollar Menu and More" with items that cost up to $5.
"Some of the challenges we've had in the US have been somewhat self-inflicted," McDonald's CEO Steve Easterbrook said during a conference call in July. "We moved away from the Dollar Menu and didn't replace it with significant-enough value in the eyes of consumers."
McDonald's introduced McPick 2 in January. It let customers select two of the following items for $2: a McDouble, a McChicken, small fries, and mozzarella sticks.
In late February, McDonald's raised the price of the promotion to $5. The new promotion let customer select two of the following for $5: a Big Mac, 10-piece chicken McNuggets, a Filet-O-Fish sandwich, and a quarter pounder with cheese.