What is McDonald’s really betting on with its next 8,000 restaurants?

• McDonald’s plans to reach 50,000 restaurants globally by 2028.
• The company expects around 2,100 net restaurant additions in 2026.
• Its new strategy puts redesigned restaurants, digital loyalty and beverages at the center of the growth plan.

McDonald’s is preparing to add thousands of restaurants around the world while working to solve a more immediate problem: getting customers back through its doors. The fast-food giant’s new McDonald’s NEXT strategy puts restaurant expansion alongside redesigned stores, technology, loyalty and food and drink innovation as it looks for its next phase of growth.

The company expects to reach 50,000 restaurants globally by 2028, up from more than 44,000 today. It expects around 2,100 net new restaurants in 2026, including approximately 2,600 gross openings, with around 750 in the US and international operated markets.

That expansion comes at an awkward moment for its US business. McDonald’s reported just 0.8 per cent growth in US comparable sales in its most recent quarter, while restaurant traffic fell. The company has attributed its recent US weakness to execution issues around value and customer offers rather than a fundamental problem with the strategy.

So the question behind the expansion is not simply where McDonald’s will build its next restaurants. It is what the company believes those restaurants need to do differently.

The restaurant itself is becoming part of the strategy

McDonald’s plans to introduce a new restaurant format with a redesigned kitchen aimed at improving speed and order accuracy. Technology will be built into the format, including systems designed to make ordering and fulfillment more efficient.

The company is also planning a substantial remodel program for existing restaurants. Capital spending is expected to rise to between $600m and $900m a year in 2027 and 2028, with much of the additional investment directed toward these restaurant upgrades.

McDonald’s says remodeled restaurants have tended to outperform older-format locations on sales and customer satisfaction. The investment therefore appears to be based on the idea that the physical restaurant still matters, even as more customers order through apps, delivery platforms and digital channels.

That is particularly relevant to the US market, where McDonald’s has been trying to balance value offers with profitability. Instead of relying entirely on cheaper meals to attract customers, the company is looking toward a combination of convenience, speed, experience and personalized offers.

Automation is part of that equation.

The new restaurant design is expected to use technology to reduce friction from ordering through to food collection. McDonald’s has described this as a way of improving the customer experience, while the operating targets attached to the strategy point toward another benefit: lower costs and more efficient restaurants.

The company is targeting general and administrative spending of less than 2 per cent of systemwide sales, compared with around 2.2 per cent currently.

Can loyalty and a cold drink bring customers back?

McDonald’s is also betting that its relationship with customers can become more valuable after they leave the restaurant.

The MyMcDonald’s Rewards program already has tens of millions of members. The company says digitally engaged customers visit more frequently and spend more per visit than customers who are not part of the program.

That makes loyalty a central part of the growth strategy. Rather than using discounts broadly to generate visits, McDonald’s wants to use customer data and personalized offers to encourage more frequent visits.

Beverages are another area where the company sees room to grow.

Cold drinks, iced coffee and specialty beverages have become an important part of the chain’s efforts to attract customers looking for a relatively affordable purchase. McDonald’s has said it intends to continue investing in its beverage platform, viewing it as a potential traffic driver with attractive price and frequency characteristics.

There is also a social media component to the strategy. The company has acknowledged that it has not fully used its cultural reach online and wants to create more consistent content aimed at turning attention into visits.

That could matter particularly for younger customers, but the bigger business question is whether social engagement can generate repeat traffic without requiring the level of discounting that can put pressure on restaurant margins.

The strategy therefore represents a fairly broad bet. McDonald’s is not simply betting that more restaurants will automatically mean more sales. It is betting that new restaurants, better-designed kitchens, digital loyalty, technology, beverages and a stronger connection with customers can make the wider system more productive.

The company will still have to contend with the basic economics of expansion. Franchisees carry much of the construction cost, meaning the pace of openings will depend partly on their willingness and ability to invest. Permitting, financing and local market conditions could also affect how quickly the planned restaurants appear.

And the US consumer remains an important test.

McDonald’s has acknowledged that its US business has not delivered the traffic recovery it had expected. Meanwhile, competitors such as Chipotle have managed to attract customers with stronger traffic growth during parts of the same period.

The next phase of McDonald’s growth may therefore be less about simply becoming a bigger restaurant chain and more about proving that its new format can make each visit more attractive and each restaurant more efficient.

The 50,000-store target gives investors a number to watch. The more revealing test may be what happens to customer visits and sales as those restaurants begin to arrive.