McDonald's Dollar Menu Reinvigorates Chain's Traffic

The introduction of McDonald's new Dollar Menu is proving to be successful in reinvigorating the fast food chain's traffic.

According to a report by researchers Datassential and Sense360, McDonald's share of U.S. traffic among fast food and fast-casual restaurants rose to almost 18% in the week ending on Jan. 21, showing an increase of roughly 0.4 percentage point from last year, Bloomberg reports. Furthermore, while the fast food chain is waiting to release its fourth-quarter earnings, sales rose 6% globally in the third quarter and McDonald's stock has gained 3.6% this year through Friday.

The positive results come in the wake of the company's shift to focusing on "the power of a value offering," Dave Jenkins, managing director of customer solutions at Datassential in Chicago said.

The company has been leading a turnaround of recovering lost customers by offering discounts, faster service, fresh beef and franchising stores globally. The effort has also included the introduction of the new Dollar Menu.

The new Dollar Menu, which debuted earlier this month, gives customers the option to order off the $1, $2, or $3 tier.

In the $1 tier, customers can grab a Sausage Burrito, a McChicken, a Cheeseburger and any size soft drink.

The $2 tier offers a Sausage McGriddle, a 2-Piece Buttermilk Crispy Tenders, a Bacon McDouble and any small McCafe beverage.

Finally, the $3 tier features a Sausage McMuffin with Egg, a Classic Chicken Sandwich, a Triple Cheeseburger and Happy Meal.

"We built this new menu with variety and value firmly in mind," Chris Kempczinski, McDonald's USA president, said in a statement.

In addition to their new dollar menu options, McDonald's is also bringing back an former menu item.

It's been reported that the Golden Arches franchise is testing out "fresh, never-frozen beef patties" in several restaurant's around Tulsa, Oklahoma. No word on when, or if, they'll branch out in to other regional markets.

McDonald's has also begun rolling out the McVegan Burger, which is currently being offered in Sweden and Finland. The McVegan, which has a similar presentation to the iconic Big Mac, offers a soy-based patty with lettuce, tomato, onions, ketchup, and mustard. Given its early success and popularity, it's expected that the plant-based burger will be hitting U.S. locations soon.