Fast-food chains are winning back customers with meal deals. Will the good times last?

Fast-food restaurant chains have been seeing an uptick in traffic over the past two months due to the success of limited-time deals and promotions, along with an early rollout of the holiday season, according to Revenue Management Solutions (RMS), a company that analyzes data and provides insights about the restaurant industry.

However, RMS warned that gains from such promotions are often fleeting and could end once the deals disappear.

Overall, traffic in November for quick-service restaurants (QSR) was up 1.3% year-over-year; for November 2023, it was down 1.4% YOY. This is a sizable improvement from September of this year, when fast-food traffic was down 3.8% YOY.

Menu price hikes and customers in revolt

Rising menu prices this year at McDonald’s, Taco Bell, Wendy’s, KFC, and other fast-food chains caused a consumer backlash as price-conscious customers decided it wasn’t worth the cost, leading to declining sales and even the closure of underperforming locations (including at Wendy’s and Shake Shack).

To counteract the poor sales and bad publicity it was receiving, McDonald’s rolled out a $5 meal deal, which it extended twice, after luring back some customers with the promise of more affordable burgers.

Burger King followed with its own $5 deal, while Wendy’s dropped a $3 breakfast combo, and other chains offered a variety of discounts for special holidays.

One important note: While these promotions drove traffic, average fast-food prices continued to rise 2.6% year-over-year in November, per RMS.

Finally, when RMS compared fast-food performance trends YOY for November, it found that the average price of a check was up 3.6%, and net sales were positive at 4.9%. That’s some good news for the fast-food industry as it nears the end of a challenging year.