McDonald's to Offer Delivery Service & All-day Breakfast

(The Verge) – In the past few months, McDonalds has been experimenting with many new additions to their menu. In February of this year, the popular fast food franchise briefly began offering their new “Fish McBites,” which were soon followed by the addition of “Premium McWraps”, and then their most recent menu addition, the “Egg White Delight McMuffin”. While these additions did come as a pleasant surprise to many customers world-wide, it is expected that McDonald’s newest plan for change will be their biggest  and most talked about decision yet. According to reports made by NBC and USA Today, McDonald’s soon plans on introducing a delivery service and all-day breakfast to many of their restaurants.

Recently, in an interview with CNBC, Don Thompson, CEO of McDonald’s, discussed plans of these new changes saying that the corporation has “looked at breakfast across the day” and has brought the idea into further consideration. When asked about a time frame for when these plans are set to begin, Thompson responded, “I think we’ll be seeing some of those things in the near future.” Along with these new additions, Thompson also mentioned that they are also looking at “innovative ways” to expand restaurant hours in certain locations throughout the U.S. The idea of implementing a customer awards program at McDonald’s was also mentioned in the interview. Thompson said he “loved this idea” and it may also be something that the store may soon try to incorporate into their plans.
Although the idea of a 24- hour McDonald’s with delivery services may seem foreign to some, it is by no means a new idea. In fact, 20% of McDonald’s restaurants already offer delivery and 50% are open for business 24-hours a day (statistic via: USA Today). In countries such as China, Thailand, and Egypt, delivery service and extended hours have been common facets of McDonald’s restaurants for quite some time now. These facets have proven themselves to be quite profitable, so much so that in Egypt, the first country in which McDonald’s began offering the option of delivery, it is reported that deliveries make up more than 30% of total sales (statistic via: The Wall Street Journal).
Seeing the level of success these services have experienced in other countries, it is no wonder that McDonald’s is considering expanding them to include the American market as well. Thompson believes the addition of delivery and all-day breakfast to stores in the U.S. will open new doors for the company and generally prove to be an extremely profitable endeavor. Taking into consideration the drop in sales McDonald’s recently reported for the first quarter, this plan may be just the thing they need to give sales an extra boost. Along with these changes, Thompson also mentioned ideas of further aligning the organization’s culture with modern trends through means of  healthier menu options and perhaps even installing a system of mobile payments. Says Thompson, “Tastes have been changing and it’s just that we, as McDonald’s, have continued to evolve.” (Quote via: USA Today).
How do you feel about McDonald’s plans for delivery and all-day breakfast? Are you “Lovin’ it”, or do you think these ideas will be a ‘flop’ like  their introduction of Fish McBites? Share your opinion below in the comments section!