An initial read on McDonald’s two-month-old all-day breakfast offering finds that, initially, the program is successful in attracting new or lapsed buyers and increasing lunch visits, according to a study by The NPD Group, a leading global information company. The NPD study, which is based on its receipt harvesting service, Checkout TrackingSM, also found that there was a sizeable lift in breakfast food orders throughout the day.

Looking at the purchase behavior of McDonald’s breakfast buyers who purchased breakfast foods beyond traditional breakfast hours, NPD found that a third of these buyers had not purchased from McDonald’s at all prior to the all-day breakfast launch on October 6. The study also found that McDonald’s customers did order breakfast foods beyond traditional breakfast hours, and were most interested in ordering breakfast foods at lunch – the chain’s busiest time of day. Among consumers purchasing breakfast foods at McDonald’s during lunch hours, 61% of their receipts also included non-breakfast items, which contributed to a bump in average check size.

Orders of breakfast foods throughout the day increased from 39% pre-launch to 47% post-launch, according to the NPD Checkout Tracking study, which analyzed a database containing receipts from more than 27,000 McDonald’s static buyers who visited before and after the McDonald’s all-day breakfast launch.

“This preliminary review of McDonald’s all-day breakfast offer suggests consumers are receptive to ordering McDonald’s breakfast foods beyond traditional breakfast hours,” says Bonnie Riggs, NPD restaurant industry analyst and author of the study. “It’s early and there are other questions to answer as time goes on, but for now it is working.”