McDonalds vs. Starbucks

The fast food king has had an impact on the coffee king:

McCafe Helps McDonald's Retain Customers

Ever wonder how much a brand extension might help you retain customers? McDonald's saw an opportunity to retain customers who were waking up to the smell of coffee elsewhere.

For some time, the percentage of McDonald’s customers who also visited Starbucks trended steadily at around 17 percent. This trend quickly changed upon the launch of the McDonald’s McCafe coffee line in May of 2009. In one week, the percentage of McDonald’s customers also visiting Starbucks dropped below 15 percent and remained below 15 percent for about 9 weeks.

• An average of 17.1 percent of customers also visited Starbucks from August 2008 to May 2009
• After the May launch of McCafe, average of 14.5 percent of customers also visited Starbucks
• There’s a relative 15 percent decrease in customers visiting Starbucks from the week of May 4 to the week of May 11

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