McDonald's is slashing prices again to lure bargain customers

Starting in April, the fast-food chain will offer any size of soft drink for $1, Bloomberg reports.

A large soft drink currently costs $1.29 in Richmond, Virginia-area McDonald's. McCafe coffee beverages are also part of the promotion. Those drinks, which cost between $2.69 and $4, will be discounted to $2 for a limited time.

McDonald's is cutting prices to try and drive customer traffic to its restaurants.

Visits to the chain's US restaurants dropped 2.1% in 2016, despite McDonald's rollout of a new McPick 2 value menu early last year that offered bundled value meals for between $2 and $4.

See the evolution of McDonald's over the years:

The fast-food chain has been facing stiff competition from other chains that have also been cutting prices and offering bundled value meals.

McDonald's is also competing in a tough overall market with steadily declining grocery prices encouraging more people to eat at home.

McDonald's CEO Steve Easterbrook said last month that driving customer traffic with discounts and promotions would be the company's main focus this year.

"You can expect us to be more competitive on the value end this year," Easterbrook said on a call with analysts in January.

Read the Bloomberg story here.

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