McDonald's Wants To Capitalize On The 'Dead Zone' Period

For fast-food restaurant operators, the period between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. is referred to as the "fast-food dead zone" as it is smack in between the lunch and dinner hours. In McDonald's Corporation MCD's case, a whopping 95 percent of customers show up outside of these hours. The fast food chain is looking to change that.

McDonald's is looking to monetize the "fast-food dead zone" through new offerings, including snacks like muffin tops, croissants and an expanded sundae-topping station, Bloomberg reported. The company hopes that it can now give customers a compelling reason to visit locations during these time periods and if successful it may help regain some of its lost market share. McDonald's market share in the fast-food restaurant space fell to 15.1 percent in 2016 from 17.5 percent five years earlier.

But since McDonald's isn't alone in experiencing the "dead zone" trend, it could gain market share as some, but not all of its peers are ignoring the prime snacking period. In fact, CEO Steve Eastbrook said back in May that snacking and coffee represents "underdeveloped opportunities" that could "bring the casual customer in the door more often."

However, McDonald's snack options aren't on the healthier side of the spectrum, Bloomberg added. For instance, some of the snacks consumers could buy include a 620-calorie turtle brownie sundae or a 500-calorie McCafe chocolate chip frappe.

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