Leading Dining & Restaurant Brands in the UK: Q1 2025 Analysis

Introduction

The dining and restaurant sector in the UK continues to thrive, with major players like McDonald's, Domino's Pizza, and Subway leading the charge. Utilizing Sensor Tower's comprehensive data, we explore the performance of these brands from Q4 2024 to Q1 2025, examining their web and app presence, audience engagement, and advertising strategies.

McDonald's

McDonald's digital footprint remains robust, with both its website and app playing pivotal roles.

• Audience Trends: The website observed a slight fluctuation in visits, with figures hovering around 5M to 7M monthly visits. Monthly true audience figures stabilized above 9M throughout Q1 2025, with a balanced mix of app-only and web-only visitors.

• App Engagement: The McDonald's app saw monthly active users averaging over 8M, peaking in February. This indicates a strong mobile presence, complementing the website's performance.

• Ad Spend & Channels: McDonald's ramped up monthly ad spending significantly in Q1 2025, reaching over $4M in February. The focus was primarily on channels like YouTube and Facebook, which garnered hundreds of millions of impressions.

Domino's Pizza

Domino's Pizza showcases a dynamic digital strategy through its website and app.

• Audience Trends: The website consistently attracted around 12M to 14M monthly visits, with unique visits averaging over 1M. The monthly true audience remained stable, exceeding 3M.

• App Engagement: The app maintained a steady monthly active user base, with active users nearing 3M, reflecting sustained interest in mobile ordering.

• Ad Spend & Channels: Domino's monthly ad spend was notable, peaking at over $4.8M in October 2024, with a focus on platforms like Facebook and YouTube, driving substantial impressions.

Subway

Subway leverages its career website, main website, and app to engage users.

• Audience Trends: The career website saw a surge in visits, peaking at over 2M in March 2025. The main website remained consistent with visits around 1M. Monthly true audience figures for both sites combined exceeded 1.3M.

• App Engagement: The Subway app's monthly active users grew steadily, reaching over 1.2M by March 2025, indicating an increasing preference for mobile interactions.

• Ad Spend & Channels: Subway's advertising strategy saw fluctuating investments, with the highest monthly spend recorded in December 2024 at over $1.3M, predominantly on YouTube and Instagram.

Conclusion

In Q1 2025, McDonald's, Domino's Pizza, and Subway have all demonstrated strategic digital growth across web and app platforms. Sensor Tower's unparalleled data insights enable a comprehensive understanding of these trends, highlighting the importance of cross-platform user engagement in the dining sector. For more detailed insights, explore Sensor Tower's Web Insights, App Performance Insights, and Pathmatics offerings.