McDonald’s (NYSEMCD) is spearheading initiatives across a variety of geographies to stay ahead of the competition. McDonald’s, the leader in the hamburger fast food category, also also competes with Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) in the specialty coffee market.
Initiatives to Improve Customer Experience
In France and Southern Europe, McDonald’s is equipping an additional 250 restaurants with self order kiosks to provide a more convenient ordering experience for customers. In the U.K., it is bringing a touch prepayment option to all of its 1,200 restaurants this summer. This would provide even greater speed and convenience to the customers.
McDonald’s installed a user-friendly point of sale system in 7,500 restaurants across the U.S. to ease the workload of its crew. More than 70% of its restaurants in Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa increased their peak hour guest counts through optimized operations and capacity initiatives.
In Europe, McDonald’s is targeting 850 restaurant re-modelings and another 500 in Asia.
In the U.S., the company is delivering convenience and accessibility through extended hours, which continues to drive sales and guest counts. McDonald’s launched Fruit & Maple Oatmeal in the U.S. in Q1 2011, which strengthened its overall nutritional profile. The company also plans to launch frozen strawberry lemonade in May along with the new unique smoothie flavor this summer.
We have $78.40 price estimate for McDonald’s stock, roughly in line with market price.
