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Study: Six out of 10 most visited U.S. businesses are QSRs

May 29, 2013

A new study released by Placed found that limited-service restaurants account for the majority of the most-visited businesses in America.

McDonald's, at No. 1, has the highest traffic of any U.S. business, followed by Subway at No. 2.

Slightly more than half of all Americans visited a McDonald's in April. Although Subway has nearly 10,000 more U.S. locations than McDonald's, it was still No. 2 to the Golden Arches.

The No. 3 most visited restaurant (but not business) was Starbucks.

Interestingly, less than 1 percentage point separated Burger King (No. 4) and Wendy's (No. 5) visits during the month of April.

The top pizza brand in April was Pizza Hut, with 11 percent of Americans visiting in April. Little Caesars was No. 2 and Domino's was No. 3.

The top 20

Restaurants ranked in order with the percentage of total American visitors in April are:

1. McDonald's, 50.7 percent;
2. Subway, 39.7 percent;
3. Starbucks, 25 percent;
4. Burger King, 24.7 percent;
5. Wendy's, 23.8 percent;
6. Taco Bell, 18.4 percent;
7. Dunkin' Donuts, 11.6 percent;
8. Pizza Hut, 11 percent;
9. Sonic Drive-In, 9.9 percent;
10. Arby's, 9.3 percent;
11. Dairy Queen, 9 percent;
12. KFC, 8.9 percent;
13. Chick-fil-A, 7.8 percent;
14. Chipotle Mexican Grill, 7.2 percent;
15. Panera Bread, 5.8 percent;
16. Jack in the Box, 5.5 percent;
17. Quiznos, 5.5 percent;
18. Little Caesars, 5.3 percent;
19. Five Guys Famous Burgers and Fries, 4.6 percent; and
20. Domino's, 4.5 percent.

Coffee drinkers on the coasts

Although McDonald's ranked as the top destination in all four U.S. regions, there was significant variability for the remainder of the top 10.

Subway held the No. 2 spot in the Midwest and South, while rival coffee destinations protected their home field advantage with Seattle-based Starbucks ranked No. 2 in the West, and Massachusetts-based Dunkin' Donuts matching in the Northeast.

The South was the only region where Wendy's beat out Burger King, ranking as the No. 3 most visited QSR destination.

The Midwest was the only region that saw two Mexican-style brands, Taco Bell and Chipotle, secure spots in the top 10.

Forty percent of the top 10 chains in the West region did not appear among the leaders in any other markets. They include Jack In the Box, Panda Express, Carl's Jr. and Jamba Juice.

Brands popular with the Hispanic, Asian and Black demographics

Despite Wendy's recent efforts to step up its marketing messaging efforts toward the Hispanic demographic, Hispanics said they were least likely to visit Wendy's compared to McDonald's, Burger King and Taco Bell. Wendy's, which recently increased its spend for Hispanic media by double digits and launched new tailored TV ads, saw that Hispanics were 16 percent less likely to visit the chain compared to an average U.S. consumer.

As the largest food advertiser in Spanish-language media according to Ad Age, McDonald's showed the strongest skew among Hispanic customers compared to Burger King, Wendy's and Taco Bell.

Taco Bell's visitors skewed the youngest of the four brands, with those under age 44 over indexing to the taco chain. Taco Bell visitors also skewed slightly lower income comparatively.

Although consumers with children were more likely to visit all four chains than those without children, Burger King showed the strongest skew toward parents.

Other brands that resonate strongly with Hispanics include In-N-Out Burger, Pollo Tropical and El Pollo Loco. Brands that ranked low among Hispanics were Steak 'n Shake, Culver's and Arby's.

Across the board, Asians underindexed for McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's and Taco Bell. According to Placed Insights, this highlights an opportunity for these brands to reach an audience that currently isn't consuming their menu at scale. Brands that resonate strongly with Asians include In-N-Out Burger.

Church's Chicken ranked as the top indexing business for African Americans, beating out Popeye's and Bojangles.

Big data

Based on data from its recently launched Placed Insights service, "Dining Out in America: The Quick Service Restaurant Landscape" provides a view into U.S. consumers' relationships with QSRs and fast casual restaurants including analysis of the top brands, demographic trends and competitor customer profiles.

"Americans have more options than ever when dining out, fueling a growing battle for a limited set of dollars," said David Shim, founder and CEO at Placed. "In a space as competitive as fast food, data is the differentiator in terms of a winning and losing brand. By measuring the connection between people and places, restaurants are able to look beyond their counters and pull dollars away from their competitors."

Perhaps that's why Dunkin' Brands CEO Nigel Travis recently said that "big data" is the future of the QSR industry.

"We've all just scratched the surface. The more data we can get, the more we can drive guests into our stores," he said.

Photo provided by Wikimedia.

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