Leading Brands in US Dining & Restaurants: Q3 2024 Insights

Introduction

In Q3 2024, the Dining & Restaurants category experienced significant digital engagement across major brands. McDonald’s, Yelp Inc., and Starbucks emerged as industry leaders, showcasing impressive monthly deduplicated audiences across their websites and apps. Sensor Tower’s comprehensive data insights provide a detailed look into their performance trends, highlighting unique cross-platform user behavior.

McDonald’s

McDonald’s digital ecosystem includes its websites, mcdonalds.com and happymeal.com, along with the McDonald’s app.

• Audience Trends:

  • mcdonalds.com saw a steady increase in visits, peaking in July at roughly 20M visits.

  • happymeal.com experienced significant growth, with visits rising from around 210K in May to almost 490K by September.

  • The monthly deduplicated audience across platforms remained robust, surpassing 50M by September.

• App Engagement:

  • The McDonald’s app maintained a strong presence, with monthly active users increasing to over 23M by September.

• Ad Spend & Channels:

  • McDonald’s monthly advertising expenditure peaked in July, exceeding $25M, with significant impressions across OTT and social media platforms like Facebook and TikTok.

Yelp Inc.

Yelp’s digital presence is anchored by its website, yelp.com, and the Yelp app.

• Audience Trends:

  • yelp.com maintained high engagement, though visits slightly declined from 188M in May to 151M by September.

  • The monthly deduplicated audience consistently exceeded 40M, highlighting a strong web presence.

• App Engagement:

  • The Yelp app saw a mild decrease, with monthly active users dropping to about 8.5M in September.

• Ad Spend & Channels:

  • Yelp’s advertising efforts were notable, with monthly spend peaking in August at over $5M, primarily on YouTube.

Starbucks

Starbucks operates through its website, starbucks.com, and the Starbucks app.

• Audience Trends:

  • starbucks.com saw a gradual decline, with visits falling from about 54M in April to 40M by September.

  • The monthly deduplicated audience remained stable, hovering around 34M.

• App Engagement:

  • The Starbucks app maintained a steady monthly active user base, with nearly 9M active users throughout the quarter.

• Ad Spend & Channels:

  • Starbucks’ monthly ad spend was consistent, with a notable increase in September, reaching over $15M, heavily investing in Facebook and Instagram channels.

Conclusion

The Q3 2024 analysis of McDonald’s, Yelp Inc., and Starbucks showcases their strategic digital engagements and advertising efforts. Sensor Tower’s unique insights into cross-platform behavior provide invaluable data, enabling these brands to optimize their digital strategies. With robust tools like Web Insights, Pathmatics, and App Performance Insights, Sensor Tower continues to lead in offering unparalleled data depth and accuracy, empowering decision-makers with actionable intelligence.