McDonald’s enters the loyalty space with ‘MyMcDonald’s Rewards’

Every day almost 40,000 McDonald’s restaurants serve 69 million people in 118 different countries.

In 2021, the world’s largest fast-food chain did something it’s never done before, its first loyalty program in its home market of the United States - MyMcDonald’s Rewards.

In this blog post, we will delve into McDonald's loyalty program, covering:

Millions of McDonald’s customers now use the McDonald’s app, which allows them to browse nutritional information, and redeem digital coupon codes.

To leverage this trend, McDonald’s has decided to invest in customer retention with MyMcDonald’s Rewards. McDonald’s customers in France and the UAE have been able to earn loyalty points on their McDonald’s orders for a while, but this is the first time it’s been offered in the home of the Big Mac.

A US-wide loyalty program is a game changer because the US is such an important market for McDonald’s. It accounted for 40.6% ($7.66 billion) of the brand’s global revenue in 2020.

MyMcDonald’s Rewards is an app-based, tiered loyalty program that rewards customers with points when they buy McDonald’s menu items.

For every dollar customers spend, they’ll be rewarded with 100 rewards points. They can save these points on their profile/app and exchange them for select items from the McDonald’s menu.

These reward menu items are separated into four tiers, each with different points requirements:

Cheeseburger, Hash Brown, Vanilla Cone, McChicken

Medium Fries, 6 Chicken McNugget, Sausage Burrito, Large Iced Coffee

Large Fries, Fillet-O-Fish, Sausage McMuffin with Egg

Big Mac, Happy Meal, Bacon Egg & Cheese Biscuit, Happy Meal

Until the end of the year, McDonald’s will also offer a 1500 point bonus for any customer that signs up for MyMcDonald’s Rewards.

MyMcDonald’s Rewards is part of the wider ‘MyMcDonald’s’ initiative. It aims to improve the overall McDonald’s customer experience and brand with digital innovations.

McDonald’s is already known for its focus on customer service and its wildly popular, customer acquisition-driving promotions, like McDonald’s Monopoly.

But it’s now adopting a more omnichannel strategy for its customer interactions with the MyMcDonald’s initiative. Features being rolled out include digital ordering kiosks, digital menu boards, flexible payment options, delivery, and now targeted loyalty rewards.

Starbucks was one of the first retail food and beverage retailers to launch a loyalty program back in 2009. By 2020, Starbucks Rewards had more than 19 million members and accounted for nearly 50% of the brand’s revenue. Time will tell if McDonald’s can see a similar level of success.