“Dude let’s just go to McDonald’s” is something you may not hear a lot of in the future. According to Business Insider, McDonald’s worldwide sales dropped 3.3% last year and it’s hardly surprising to me, given the volume of public criticism they have accumulated until now. In my opinion, the major reason for this decline is because McDonald’s have been stagnant in their value propositions while consumer preferences in the fast food industry have evolved.
Photo by McDonald’s
Health conscious millennials are driving market shares at the moment and while fast food chains like A&W have adapted to advertise their use of beef without steroids or hormones, McDonald’s has been left to be exposed. Up until now, McDonald’s has not valued the quality of their food as much as they valued the price of their food and I think this is a possibly negative effect of their industry low cost strategy. Because McDonald’s has been fully immersed within the concept of lowering prices as much as possible, they are at a severe disadvantage once market preferences have shifted.
Although they tried to ease criticism of its products through their “Our food, your questions” transparency ploy, personally, it came across as a move of desperation instead. McDonald’s must accept that their core value propositions (cheap, fast, delicious food) have been surpassed by other companies and focus on mitigating their downfall as soon as possible if they wish to stay relevant within the fast food industry any longer.
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