Leading Brands in US Dining & Restaurants: Q4 2023 Analysis

The dining and restaurant sector in the US has experienced significant engagement across both websites and apps in Q4 2023. Among the standout performers are McDonald's, Yelp Inc., and Starbucks. This article delves into the performance and trends of these leading brands, providing insights into their digital presence and advertising strategies.

McDonald’s

McDonald’s, a global fast-food leader, continues to leverage its digital assets effectively. Its digital footprint includes its website, mcdonalds.com, and the McDonald's app.

• Audience Trends: McDonald's maintained a stable monthly deduplicated audience consistently above 48M by December 2023. Website visits showed fluctuations, with a notable peak in December at around 19.5M visits.

• App Engagement: The app maintained a steady monthly active user base, with active users consistently around 21M throughout Q4.

• Ad Spend & Channels: McDonald's monthly advertising expenditure peaked in December, exceeding $26M, with significant impressions via OTT and platforms like Facebook and YouTube.

Yelp Inc.

Yelp, renowned for its crowd-sourced reviews and local business connections, maintains a robust digital ecosystem through its website, yelp.com, and the Yelp: Food, Delivery & Reviews app.

• Audience Trends: The website maintained a robust monthly presence with visits stabilizing around 185M in December. The true monthly audience remained strong, hovering around 46M.

• App Engagement: The app saw a slight decline in monthly active users, stabilizing close to 9M by December.

• Ad Spend & Channels: Yelp's monthly advertising spend surged in December, reaching over $4.2M, primarily utilizing platforms like YouTube and Facebook for impressions.

Starbucks

Starbucks, a leader in the coffeehouse sector, maintains its digital presence through starbucks.com and the Starbucks app.

• Audience Trends: The website attracted consistent monthly traffic, with visits oscillating around 48M in December. The true monthly audience metric showed a gradual increase, nearing 38M.

• App Engagement: The Starbucks app experienced stable growth, with monthly active users reaching approximately 9.5M by the end of Q4.

• Ad Spend & Channels: Starbucks increased its monthly ad spend significantly in December, surpassing $15M, with a strong presence on platforms such as Instagram and TikTok.

Conclusion

The data provided by Sensor Tower highlights the dynamic nature of the Dining & Restaurants category in the digital space. McDonald's, Yelp, and Starbucks each exhibit unique strategies and engagement patterns across their web and app platforms. Sensor Tower’s comprehensive dataset, including Web Insights, Pathmatics, and App Performance Insights, offers unparalleled insights into these trends, enabling a detailed understanding of cross-platform user behavior. This empowers decision-makers with the knowledge needed to strategize effectively in a competitive market.

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