• by Teresa Buyikian , June 26, 2024

Despite slowing inflation, consumers are still struggling to make ends meet. The one 'luxury" most often cut?  Eating out, whether it be a fast-casual meal or even takeout or delivery. And when the cost of that simple drive-thru meal also increased (according to data from Kalinowski Equity Research cited in The New York Post), many customers decided to just eat at home.

Public outcry has been loud and broad, voicing displeasure on social and general media, resulting in decreasing foot traffic across the board for restaurants, according to  the National Restaurant Association.

But it appears both QSRs and fast-casual chains have finally got the message.

We recently reported on Buffalo Wild Wings’ massively successful (doubled foot traffic on a normally dead Monday) all-you-can-eat wings offer, which was one of the first newly discounted offers out of the gate in May.

“It's shaping up to be a very promotional summer for the restaurant industry,”  R.J. Hottovy, head of analytical research at foot traffic analytics firm Placer.ai, told QSR Insider. “Many QSR chains are planning $5 value menus. As a result, we'll likely see other casual dining chains try to replicate the success of the Buffalo Wild Wings promotion and compete with QSR and try to recapture lost visit share among lower- to middle-income consumers.”

This week Chili’s resurrected a branded online version of the retro arcade game BurgerTime to tout the fast casual’s Big Smasher Burger, available in a Three for Me combo including an appetizer, drink and entrée. Unfortunately, prices aren’t quite as retro as when the original game launched in 1982; the meal deal is $10.99. But the goal of the game? “To save humanity from the overpriced fast-food burger,” per the announcement.

“The narrative we created in our version of BurgerTime is unfortunately becoming more and more accurate everyday as fast-food prices rise,” Chili’s Vice President of Marketing Jesse Johnson told QSR Insider. “This is a fun and surprising way to tell a gaming audience about what we feel is a much better and affordable option to fast food.”

But as far as QSRs go, $5 seems to be the magic number, per a recent Axios report. Wendy’s has had its $5 Biggie Bag (now with a free Frosty for a limited time) since 2022, and Burger King brought back the $5 Your Way meal earlier this month. Taco Bell has an app-only $5.99 Cravings Box, Del Taco has a $5 Bean and Cheese Del Deal, White Castle has a $5 Bacon Bundle, and KFC introduced a “Taste of KFC Deals” value menu with prices starting at $4.99 earlier this year.

And as reported earlier, QSR giant McDonald’s has finally launched a new LTO meal deal for $5, but only following enormous public backlash, making the burger behemonth a bit late to the discounting other chains have already recently adopted.

And although most of these are limited-time offers, let’s hope lower prices and the focus on consumer feedback are here to stay.