CHICAGO: After years of seeing fewer US customers come in its doors, McDonald’s Corp is embracing a different philosophy: take the food to them.
The fast-food chain will rely heavily on delivery to reignite sales, especially in the US, according to executives speaking at McDonald’s investor day in Chicago on Wednesday. The company also is turning more aggressively to digital technology, such as mobile ordering and payments, to meet its growth targets.
The overhaul is part of a bid to achieve long-term system wide sales growth of 3 per cent to 5 per cent, starting in 2019. McDonald’s also aims to boost operating margins from the high-20 percent range to around mid-40 percent.
“Restaurant delivery is a $100 billion market and it’s exploded,” Senior Vice President Lucy Brady, who runs strategy for the chain, said at the event. “There’s significant opportunity that we haven’t even tapped into yet.”
The world’s biggest restaurant chain has faced slowing sales since excitement around the 2015 US launch of all-day breakfast has died down. That’s put pressure on Chief Executive Officer Steve Easterbrook to find new initiatives that can revive momentum. Though the company has been testing delivery for years, it now sees an opportunity to “scale quickly” with the concept.
