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5 for 5: McDonald's, desserts, technology among trending articles

The top five articles trending on QSRWeb range from McDonald's to dessert trends to technology.

March 2, 2015

The top five articles trending on QSRWeb range from McDonald's to dessert trends to technology. McDonald's in particular was a hot topic this month for the problems the company faces even as it rolled out its now infamous Super Bowl campaign.

Check out the most read articles on QSRWeb for the month of February.

5. "Weaving a loyal web: 3 steps to integrate social into loyalty marketing"

It’s been proven that loyalty increases your bottom line. For example, AC Nielson shows that consumers spend 46 percent more with businesses that have loyalty programs. Yet, surprisingly few restaurateurs have loyalty programs, or their customers are not aware of them. So, how can social media be used to increase awareness of your program, get more people to join it, and even create one if you don’t have one yet?

Click hereto find out details.

4. "From lawsuits to 'factory food': 6 things wrong with McDonald's"

McDonald's is struggling with great profit loss and how to make the company relevant to Millennials and today's health trends. Not only that, allegations accuse McDonald's of labor violations, discrimination, sexual harassment and food safety. Click here to ready about the challenges facing the company. 

3. "QSRs, fast casuals provide table service with RFID technology"

Many QSRs are taking a line from the popularity of fast casuals and instituting table service. At the same time, a trend toward wider use of technology is driving innovations like table tracking. As QSR and fast casual services collide, both sectors are finding uses for table tracking technology.

"QSR and casual dining have seen an enormous amount of pressure from fast casual taking a lot of market share," said HME Wireless VP of Sales Russ Ford.

"Companies like Five Guys are stealing away guests from places like Wendy’s, McDonald’s and even Chick-fil-A, so QSRs are raising the bar and starting to imitate fast casuals by providing order customization, fresh food and table service to combat losing market shares. There’s a strong belief that moving in the fast casual direction will stem the tide of lost revenue and keep QSRs from losing in-store dollars," he said.

Click here to read the article.

2. "Checkers and Rally's capitalize on dessert trends in new Sweet Side menu"

Everyone has a sweet tooth, but the question is, what are the flavors that customers most crave?

Checkers and Rally's is testing its own theories on what customers crave with a pilot of its new dessert menu Sweet Side. In a complete overhaul of its Cold Creations, the company is rolling out select desserts that aren't necessarily tied to ice cream, but focus instead on value and attempt to tie in consumer taste bud trends. The concept is testing in Orlando right now with plans to launch system-wide by March 30.

Checkers and Rally's Sweet Side offerings include funnel cakes, donuts and a mix of textures and flavors that the company believes will resonate with its audience.

Click here to learn more about dessert trends and Checkers and Rally's new initiative.

And the number one, most read article for the month of February – the award goes to McDonald's (of course):

1. "Sometimes love just ain't enough: #McDonaldsPayment brings out the crazy all over Twitter"

McDonald's now infamous Super Bowl ad promoting its new campaign of accepting hugs for payment exploded on Twitter, and not in the gentlest of ways. Click here to read some of the funnier ways the campaign went wrong.