These Quick-Service Restaurants Posted Strong Foot Traffic in December

Dining foot traffic rose in December to nearly pre-pandemic levels, despite the onslaught of the Omicron variant, with chains like McDonald’s and Chik-Fil-A dominating quick-service restaurant market share.

According to Placer.ai’s Brand Dominance Map, McDonald’s led the burger category in every state in December, with visits to the chain’s locations accounting for 43% of visits to major national burger chains nationally. McDonald’s was followed by Wendy’s with 12% and Burger King with 10% of nationwide burger visits.  

Placer.ai’s Shira Petrack notes that “McDonald’s has also succeeded in weathering the fourth and fifth COVID waves with relatively little damage,” with visits over the past six months on par with 2019 numbers and growing by several percentage points year-over-year. Wendy’s offline visits were also similarly strong, despite rough months in August and September; the brand capped its year with a 3.8% year over year increase in December.

Meanwhile, “Burger King, which closed over 300 locations in 2020, still managed to slash its Yo2Y visit gap by more than half over the past four months, from 15.8% in September to 6.8% in December – indicating the potential for a strong visit comeback in 2022,” Petrack says.

And “while legacy chains are focusing on holding on to what they have, certain QSR rising stars are forging ahead,” she says, noting that visits to Sonic Drive-In, Whataburger, Shake Shack, White Castle, and In-N-Out increased by 33.8%, 17.0%, 15.1%, 10.0%, and 20.7% compared to 2019. 

“These are impressive Yo2Y growth numbers under any circumstances, and all the more so when the past two years have been under the shadow of a global pandemic,” Petrack says. “And these rising stars are not resting on their laurels. Sonic Drive-in has been opening new locations and stepping out of its comfort zone and into the CPG space with its recently launched hard seltzer product line. Whataburger is also expanding. Shake Shack, which recently announced a Q4 increase in same-store sales, has been expanding nationally and internationally while adding new items to keep its menu current. In-N-Out is also testing a possible international expansion while – you guessed it – adding new US locations. And White Castle, in a move out of Starbucks’ marketing playbook of releasing time-sensitive products to draw customers in during slower times, recently announced new menu items available only for the next month.”

On the chicken QSR front, Chik-Fil-A accounted for 40% of all nationwide chicken QSR visits in December and almost hit pre-pandemic levels. Petrack says the chain is positioned for a strong 2022. Foot traffic to KFC dropped year over year, meanwhile, likely driven by store closures and a focus on drive-thrus. However, “its May 2021 announcement of intent to triple its global store count shows that the fall in US foot traffic is not necessarily a reflection of the company’s overall health,” Petrack says.