In North America, McDonald’s is recognized as one of the most popular fast-food chain; yet lacking in innovation has always been its internal weakness. However, “Not all McDonald’s are created equal.”
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McDonald’s in western Sydney has recently unveiled an upgraded ordering approach which features a touch screen displaying 19 options for different ingredients and toppings. In addition to burger preferences, in-store seating locations are also selectable on the touch screen. McDonald’s takes customers’ preferences into account with this new customization technique, which would be an internal strength thus reinforces its customer relations.
Even though the touch screen ordering menu is still on the testing stage, it would spread nationwide if consumers respond well. I find it interesting to visualize McDonald’s marketing tactic if Gourmet Burger becomes popularized. Indeed, it would be the new focus in marketing as its uniqueness could let McDonald’s to surpass the rest of the competitors in the industry. With all points of parities such as internet access that are being almost universal in every relative companies, Gourmet Burger could stand out to be a point of difference that makes McDonald’s a viable competitor.
Work Sited:
Koerber, Brian. “McDonald’s Unveils New Gourmet Burger Menu in Australia.” Mashable. Mashable Inc., 4 Oct. 2014. Web. 04 Oct. 2014. <http://mashable.com/2014/10/04/mcdonalds-gourmet-burgers-australia/>.
Hello! That was a very interesting post and I hadn’t heard about McDonalds doing this in Australia! It’s fascinating to see how they’re adapting to an increase in technology and trying to factor it into their stores to create a point of difference with their company. I’ve seen a few sushi places use an “iPad system” for ordering but hadn’t realized McDonalds may be hopping on board. However, I wonder if doing so may be detrimental to their business. I find that McDonalds, being a “fast food” chain, traditionally has the reputation for fast and cheap food. Allowing customers to customize their burger may take away from that reputation as it may take their customers longer to order. In today’s world, where time is money and often people want a very quick burger, the longer line-ups and wait times due to the increase in customization may deter some customers from buying at McDonalds. Perhaps adding this point of difference would take away from the point of parity of, essentially, being FAST food that other chains such as A&W or Wendys still have. I would like to see this happen in stores to see if the pros of using more technology would outweigh the traditional PoP and I, too, am interested to see how they would choose to market such an idea. Very intuitive post!