will preface this by saying I love the Burger King ( BKW) and McDonald's ( MCD) apps and have for years now. I'm not proud of it, but if I'm going to cut corners, it may as well be as part of my meal choices in the wee hours of the morning. I'm not saying that the apps or the food is that good, but they work when you need them, which usually happens to be in your darker moments.
While McDonald's and Burger King are lagging in the digital ordering department, Starbucks ( SBUX) and Dunkin' Donuts ( DNKN) (go Patriots!) have seen success with loyalty programs and in-app ordering. While I don't use either of the latter, I can attest to the fact that the Wall Street Sweetgreen always has a line going out the door around lunchtime, and the only way to get a salad within a half hour is to order through the app. And as much as I hate to think about it, ordering via amalgamation apps like Seamless for the benefit of loyalty programs is the quick meal fix du jour and the future.
So how much money are you saving through the apps? Let's look at a few examples of McDonald's and Burger King app deals compared to what they would cost off the menu. The prices are taken from