• McDonald's second-quarter sales growth slowed as it faced trouble rolling out a new value menu.
• CEO Chris Kempczinski said that the chain has an execution issue, not a strategic one.
• Customers told Business Insider that the chain should rethink its approach to pricing.

McDonald's customers are looking for value. Some say they aren't finding it there.

Patrons of the Golden Arches told Business Insider that they're not impressed with the chain's prices lately. Some are reducing their visits and are critical of the food quality delivered for the cost. While McDonald's still has fans, some diners are reducing their visits.

McDonald's executives have acknowledged that they've had trouble breaking through to customers. The company's shares are down 9.6% this year.

US sales growth slowed during the chain's second quarter, it said Tuesday. CEO Chris Kempczinski pointed to trouble rolling out an under-$3 value menu — ranging from burgers and breakfast sandwiches to soft drinks — and running too many promotions at once as reasons why the chain struggled during its second quarter.

Kempczinski said that McDonald's had execution problems, but that its strategy is sound. The customers who spoke to Business Insider had their own thoughts, especially about prices.

Steve Armstrong, a retiree in Louisiana, said that he goes to Burger King because he thinks its Whopper represents a better value and is higher-quality than burgers at McDonald's.

"There's better food out there," Armstrong said. "And if you want people's money, you need to step up."

Christoph Winarski, who goes to McDonald's about once a week, said he's noticed menu prices rising over the past few years and is rethinking his habit.

"When you can get a meal from a sit-down restaurant for the same price that you get from a fast-food meal, I think that's kind of where the tipping point is," he said.

McDonald's has a value issue, customers say

Out of 227 people who responded to a Business Insider reader survey asking them to rate the value that they got for their money while dining at McDonald's, about 57% — 130 people — responded "poor" or "very poor." The survey was not scientific but showed that price and value for money were key factors they use to decide whether or not they eat at McDonald's.

Brian Schnabel said that he often stops at McDonald's while driving between his home in New York City and visiting friends in Maryland.

He hasn't ordered from the chain's under-$3 menu lately, he said, because he finds it overpriced. "If it were $1, it might be worth it," he said, referring to the dollar menu that McDonald's scrapped in 2013.

Instead, Schnabel said his go-to order at McDonald's is the Chicken Snack Wrap, which consists of fried chicken covered in lettuce, cheese, and a tortilla and costs $2.99 at the locations that he visits.

Schnabel said he thinks the snack wrap is a good deal.

"It's out of character, almost, for McDonald's to offer something at $3 which is so substantial and fills me up," he said.

Some responses to Business Insider's survey echoed the sentiment.

"I am not going to McDonald's as much since the in-app deals were cut back," one person wrote, adding that they liked a 2019 promotion that allowed diners to get a second sandwich, such as a Big Mac, for $1 when they ordered one at full price.

"To be honest, there's far better out there for my dollar," another said. "Unless something REALLY changes, I won't be going back."

Some said they liked McDonald's new value menu. "I have gone back to McDonald's only since the new value meals," one wrote. "They are an outstanding deal!"

Value versus meal deals

Mike Perry, founder and creative officer at Tavern, an agency that works with restaurant and hospitality clients, said that McDonald's should consider other ways of pitching its under-$3 selection.

Instead of trying to sell it as a "value" menu, it could make more sense to offer the items as add-ons to full meals or refocus on meal deals, such as the $5 meal that McDonald's introduced in 2024. "I would just never say the word 'value,' frankly," he said.

Other chains, such as Chili's, have successfully drawn in customers by focusing on meal deals like the Triple Dipper instead of value menus with cheap à la carte items, Perry said. That approach also tends to help restaurants' bottom line in the long run, he added.

"You can only sell so many dollar hamburgers," he said.

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• Target used to have one of retail's top mobile apps, but competitors are catching up.
• Over the past year, the company has quietly rolled out several AI-powered shopper-friendly features.
• I tried them out and found three ways the refreshed app makes shopping easier.

Target's mobile app has long been one of the company's not-so-secret weapons.

The retailer was an early mover among its brick-and-mortar peers to seriously invest in its digital business. The app drove Target's early success in curbside pickup and continues to serve as a hub for its membership programs.

I started shopping at Target much more often when my first daughter was born during the pandemic, and I often wished more retailers had apps as useful as the one with the Bullseye logo. The store map was a particular timesaver for me during a very busy time in my family's life.

In recent years, the competition has stepped up to narrow Target's lead, or in some cases, surpass it.

From scan-and-go self-checkout in the Walmart and Sam's Club apps, to Lowe's and Home Depot helping shoppers find and learn more about products in their stores, mobile apps have evolved into much more than a pocket-sized version of the company's website.

Not every store's app needs the same features, but it was starting to look like Target was losing its advantage.

Roughly one-fifth of Target's merchandise sales last year were made via web or app, or more than $21 billion. Beyond the e-commerce factor, good apps matter because shoppers are still very much going into stores, only now they're more likely to have a phone in hand while they fill their carts.

"About a third of our guests are using their app in the store," Target's chief revenue and digital officer, Sarah Travis, said at a meeting with investors and media at the company's Minneapolis headquarters earlier this month, which I attended.

Travis showed how Target has responded to this shift with several new, user-friendly features intended to make shopping easier. I was surprised to see these upgrades had been rolled out so quietly.

Unlike Target's flashy partnerships with Google or OpenAI, these new features involve more subtle integrations of artificial intelligence to supercharge common tasks.

"Target's unique opportunity is to think holistically about guest experience," Travis said, referring to this blended digital and physical approach to shopping. "The experience that you get today is vastly different than the experience that you would have gotten six months ago."

Once I got home, I decided to try them for myself. The features aren't all exclusive to Target, but three struck me as much-needed additions to the app experience — especially if Target wants to get shoppers to come back.

A handwritten list scanner

Like physical stores, the paper (or whiteboard) grocery list is still very much a reality for many US households.

I can't speak for everyone, but my family rarely makes grocery lists with detailed branding or package info — we list items in general terms like "milk" rather than "Fairlife 2% Organic Lactose Free Milk — 52 fl oz."

Now, in the My Target tab in the app, there's an option to "scan a paper list," which uses the phone's camera to capture handwritten text.

Once the app processes the image, it pulls up to 20 relevant product listings per list item to either add to an in-app basket or shopping list, turning your handwritten notes into an order that you or someone else can fulfill with precision.

It worked pretty well when I tried it, except when the app assumed I was looking for a women's or children's shirt and didn't show any men's options. My paper list just said "T-shirt," so I could have been more specific.

The buy it again tab

Another more prominent tool enhances a preexisting app feature and gives it prominent placement as a tab on the main screen.

Target's app has long made it easy to find past orders and add selected items to your cart. That's still an option, but now the app highlights frequently purchased items, items with active discounts, and stuff you bought a while ago that might be running low.

The tailored experience means that no two shoppers have the same experience, Travis said, adding that the feature "has essentially become a speed run for weekly essentials."

In a few taps, you can be restocked and ready to go.

A more helpful map

In my experience, one of the Target app's most useful features — by far — is its mapping tool that shows where to find a product in a sprawling store. This is especially helpful when traveling or when I have to go to a location across town.

When Home Depot rolled out its own version, called Store Mode, I found myself wishing Target had something to match. Now it does, thanks to the same geolocation startup, which says it also provides the service for Dick's Sporting Goods.

With the recent upgrade (and location sharing turned on), the app now prompts in-store customers to enter "Store mode," which enables a batch of map-based features, including where to find current deals and promotions.

In the "List" tab, rather than having to hunt for items one-by-one, everything on your in-app list (that you scanned earlier) shows up as a pin on the store map, helping plan a path to get what you came in for without bouncing all over the place.

It's a win for Target as well. "When guests use store mode, their baskets grow by more than 7%," Travis said.

These upgrades show that Target's app is still in the game with one of the most useful shopping apps around, and I can see it saving time and money on my next Target run.