McDonald’s supersizes its app downloads, leaving other QSRs the crumbs

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McDonald’s had the most downloaded app of any quick-service restaurant in the US in March, with 3.5 million downloads, about 2 million more than No. 2 Starbucks, according to Apptopia. Taco Bell, Subway, and Domino’s Pizza rounded out the top five.

Beyond the chart: Amid its corporate restructuring, which involved a round of layoffs, McDonald’s reported a 63% increase in net income during Q1 2023. The app has played a role in bringing diners back to the golden arches through mobile-exclusive experiences and offers, such as the 50-cent cheeseburger.

“The past three years have been about driving rapid digital customer growth across our business,” Caleb Pearson, vice president of media and digital for US marketing at McDonald’s, told us, “from launching new digital experiences in our app through MyMcDonald’s Rewards, in-app delivery, and enhanced mobile order and pay capabilities, to providing personalized customer engagement across our paid and owned channels.”

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Methodology: Data is from an April 2023 Apptopia report as cited in company blog. Apptopia combines the analytics dashboards for over 125,000 apps with advanced models to estimate data for 7+ million apps worldwide. Apptopia is a mobile app analytics platform.