Chick-fil-A is still the chicken sandwich king among people ordering delivery

• Chick-fil-A is the most popular delivery choice among chicken sandwich sellers.
• The chain had a 45% market share in December, with Popeyes in a distant second.
• The crowded chicken sandwich world continues to grow as more brands introduce menu items.

In the ongoing chicken sandwich wars, Chick-fil-A is easily the delivery winner with 45% of the market share.

Fast food brands have been competing in the red-hot chicken sandwich segment since August 2019, when Popeyes introduced a fried chicken sandwich. Online spats and snarky tweets quickly created a rivalry between Popeyes and Chick-fil-A in the months since.

But despite the ongoing competition between the two top chicken sandwich chains, Chick-fil-A has been the nearly undisputed winner in online orders for nearly two years. The chain's streak was only broken briefly in January 2020, when Popeyes overtook it in market share, according to data from Edison Trends.

In December 2020, the most recent month Edison has data for, Chick-fil-A was the clear winner with 45% of online order market share. Popeyes was a distant second with 17%, only barely beating McDonald's 16%.

The top four restaurants, Chick-fil-A, Popeyes, McDonald's, and Wendy's, have all maintained their rankings since February 2020, but the introduction of several new chicken sandwich menu items has the potential to shake up the market in 2021.

The chicken sandwich fast food space is already crowded and growing, but there seems to be an appetite among consumers. Online spending on chicken sandwiches grew 420% between January 2019 and December 2020, according to Edison Trends.

Insider has reported that several chains gearing up to introduce competitors to Chick-fil-A and Popeyes, both of which sell crispy chicken sandwiches with pickles. In January, KFC introduced a crispy chicken sandwich at nine locations, available across the country by the end of February, and Jimmy John's dropped its own version of the chicken sandwich in a Super Bowl ad. Burger King announced a new chicken sandwich coming later this year, and McDonald's is bringing its own entry this month. Shake Shack is launching a limited-edition chicken sandwich collab in Houston, and even Taco Bell announced a chicken sandwich taco coming later this year.