Weekly Global News Wrap Up: Burger King USA's 1¢ Whopper deal ‘detours' customers away from McDonald's; Shake Shack's re-designe

Here is a summary of the most interesting QSR news stories of the week from around the world.

Burger King USA has launched a Whopper Detour feature on their app which allows a customer to unlock a 1¢ Whopper promotion if they are within 600 feet from a McDonald’s store. The burger chain is using a geofencing technology for the new feature and will only run until December 12. Read more here.

Shake Shack USA has launched their re-designed mobile app that is said to have made in-app ordering faster by 50%. According to a report by MobilePayments Today, they are also testing an ApplePay and Venmo integration that will be rolled out to their stores in 2019. Read more here. 

Chipotle Mexican Grill USA made a holiday-themed window display in their New York store, decorated by real ingredients. They used all of their 51 ingredients including corn, cheese, rice, peppers, salsa and avocado. Read more here. 

Subway, Papa John’s and Jack in the Box are the top three QSR brands who are reported to have experienced more closures than openings in the US during 2018. According to 24/7 Wall St., Subway closed 500 stores, followed by Papa John’s with 85 and Jack in the Box with 14. Read more here.

Flynn Restaurant Group, an operator of Applebee’s, Panera Bread and Taco Bell in the US, has announced that they have acquired 368 Arby’s stores. The acquisition is said to generate US$2.3 billion in sales. Read more here. 

Pizza Hut US has announced that they have acquired the online restaurant ordering software QuikOrder. The pizza chain aims to use the acquisition to improve its deliver and online ordering services as well as to accelerate digital innovation across its stores. Read more here. 

Little Caesars USA is said to be trialing a Lasagna Pizza. According to a report by Brand Eating, the offering was seen in select locations across Ohio, West Virginia, and Georgia Read more here.