That’s right, all lovers of the golden arches! You can get Egg McMuffins – and any breakfast item, for that matter – at any time of the day!
McDonald’s is making the move to determine whether it will help address declining traffic and sales.
According to an Associated Press report, Janney Capital Markets analyst Mark Kalinowski released the following feedback: “Having those breakfast items available to sell all day would also serve as a reminder to customers (and the media and Wall Street) that McDonald’s does indeed have craveable food to sell."
But what does the RTP team think? Will all-day breakfast make an impact?
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Debbie Hauss, Editor-in-Chief: Sure I think it will make some customers happy to be able to have their Sausage McMuffin for dinner instead of breakfast. I don’t know that it will necessarily have a huge positive impact on overall sales, since they’ll be substituting the breakfast product for the Big Mac they might have otherwise purchased. It will be interesting to see how an increase in breakfast product sales impacts the sales of other products – and how the chain will handle that moving forward.
Alicia Fiorletta, Senior Editor: I can’t help but think about the scene in “Big Daddy” when Adam Sandler takes the little boy to McDonald’s to get some breakfast. He arrives around 11 a.m. only to be told the location isn’t serving breakfast anymore; only lunch. Needless to say, madness ensued. I could imagine a lot of breakfast lovers are going to be thrilled with this move. Some may even end up visiting their nearest McDonald’s location at lunch or dinner time because breakfast is available. I can’t help but think about how many times I ordered breakfast at 3 p.m. because I was at a diner. Should the chain see positive results, hopefully the executive team will be more willing to experiment with new breakfast menu items, too!
Rob Fee, Managing Editor: Although I have arrived at McDonald’s too late for an Egg McMuffin once or twice, I honestly haven’t thought about the chain’s 10:30 cutoff for breakfast items in ages. I go to McDonald’s because I am hungry, and I’ll move to another item on the menu if my first choice is not available. The restaurant still wins my business. I suspect this is true for most visitors. So while I see this as a great move for some people, I don’t see it providing any huge business gains for the chain.
Kim Zimmermann, Senior Managing Editor: My father is addicted to McDonald’s breakfast items, so he’s happy that he can get his pancakes for dinner. I suspect there many others who are like him. Having lived in NJ all of my life – where you can go to a diner and get eggs and Taylor Ham at any time of day – it makes sense. McDonald’s is struggling and seems as if this is a creative move as companies such as Taco Bell horn in on their morning territory.
Glenn Taylor, Associate Editor: While people are clamoring for changes now, I don’t think the end result is going to seriously change for better or worse. Consumers tend to not feel as strongly about the items they beg for once they are offered as full-time choices, as the novelty often decreases over time. McDonald’s tends to bring back items such as the McRib on a limited basis purely because they know it will sell better when customers can’t have it for a long period.
Brian Anderson, Associate Editor: It’s kind of surprising how it took McDonald’s until 2015 to begin testing an all-day breakfast menu. While it’s great to see the company’s new CEO listening to the customers and beginning to meet their needs, I believe that offering a wider variety of options throughout the day is not going to have as big of an impact that the company hopes for. While missing my McGriddle by a couple minutes often annoyed me back when I was in college, it was not a big enough issue to prevent me from eating at the fast-food chain. McDonald’s needs to look into other areas where they can improve, and begin testing to see what more can be done to boost sales.
What do you think about McDonald’s decision to make breakfast available all day? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!
