Introduction
Mcdonalds is a food-service retail chain operator, the company operates and franchises
McDonald's restaurants that serve a locally-relevant menu of food and beverages. The first
McDonald's restaurant was opened in 1940 by brothers Maurice and Richard McDonald in
San Bernardino, California. The business is the world's leading global foodservice retailer
with over 38,000 locations in over 100 countries. The United States has the most
McDonald's in the world followed by Japan & China - all three of these countries account for
roughly 52% of the McDonald's in the world. In 2021 the business served approximately 70
million customers daily through its 40,031 restaurants worldwide. McDonald's runs on a
heavily franchised business model, thus nearly 93% of its restaurants were franchised
restaurants and the rest are company-operated restaurants.
It is important that businesses adapt their products, price, place and promotion for new
international markets. It is essential to consider the demands and preferences of customers
across the world. Since in different countries there are many differences which means that
adaptations must be made in order to satisfy local tastes and needs. Businesses trading
internationally should consider the impact of these adaptations and the extent to which
they need to make changes. Changes can incur an additional cost that might be essential to
trade in a new market.
Product
Businesses need to adapt their products for new international markets. The use of
adaptation can make a business's product/service more sensitive to the needs, preferences
and cultural differences of a specific market. This can make a product more saleable and
more able to stand up to local and international competition. For example McDonalds
adapted their menu to match eating habits in different countries. For instance drink sizes
and fries are much smaller in the UK compared to the US. McDonalds also changes the sizes
of their burgers and ingredients in the burgers to adapt to eating habits within different
countries. McDonalds works to adapt their menu to reflect different tastes and local
traditions in the country where they have restaurants, this is so that they respect cultural
differences this is demonstrated in Japan where the menu includes the Ebi-Filet-O Shrimp
Burger. The burger has ingredients which is a popular burger choice for Japanese customers.
McDonalds has also adapted their burger to suit local needs as in India where a cow is a
sacred animal their burgers contain chicken or fish instead of beef. Advantages of adapting a
product enables businesses to reach new customers and make their products more saleable
as they are reaching consumers' specific and desired needs. Disadvantages of adapting a
product will likely cost a business time and money so it is important to ensure the market
potential and the expected revenue in order to justify the expense.
, Price
Businesses need to adapt their price for new international markets for a range of reasons
with one being consumer affordability, this means that in different places around the world
how much a consumer spends on a specific product/service will vary. Another reason would
be exchange rates, these would vary depending on the demand for and supply of each
currency in different countries. Additionally, taxes, tariffs and transport can add to a
businesses costs so these costs will reflect how much they charge their customers. For
example in Switzerland they have the most expensive Big Macs in the world, at 6.71 US
dollars. Whereas in the United States the cost of a Big Mac stands at 5.15 dollars and in the
Euro area stands at 4.77 dollars. This is down to exchange rates of the different
countries.One advantage of adapting price allows businesses to tailor their prices to locality,
this means that Mcdonalds takes into consideration local consumer interests, needs and
demands. The use of taking these things into consideration provides the business with the
opportunity to avoid making a loss on products by making prices lower in regions where
people want to pay less (affordability). One disadvantage on adapting price would be the
influence local tax regulations have, the business may not be able to match the prices they
want to provide for their customers as they may need to increase prices to possibly just
break even on a product.
Place
Businesses need to adapt their place for a range of reasons with one being to ensure that
they are best placed for customers and employees to access the products and services the
business provides. Businesses can either be placed in cities, urban areas, universities, rural
or online. Many countries don’t have the same retail environments or the same distribution
structure so new distribution and transportation strategies will be necessary. It is also ideal
for businesses to expand into markets with stable economies due to the fact that they can
offer stable prices and receive sustainable growth.When operating in new international
markets the business will need to research the country and look into things such as the
economic environment. It is important for businesses to be aware of tax rates and
government incentives eg: grants. For example, in the Asia region they offer low tax regimes
compared to other countries - this would be beneficial for businesses due to the fact that
set-up costs would be lower which leads to more profit for a business like Mcdonalds for
instance. Mcdonalds purchases more than 96% of its products and supplies from Indian
suppliers, the business works closely with farmers in India to produce process-grade potato
varieties. An advantage of this would enable lower costs due to the fact that in India the
businesses transportation costs will decrease due to it being sourced locally - which leads to
more profit. An advantage of this is costs will be lower as transportation costs will decrease
when sourced locally so McDonalds will make more profit. Whereas a disadvantage of this
would be that many cultures are influenced by when and how their products and services
are made available and may not respond positively to adjustment.
Promotion
Particular advertising messages in countries may have to be adapted because of language,
political climate, cultural attitudes and religious practices. For example, a promotional
strategy in one country could cause offence in another and cause anger among those from
that country. A business must decide what form of marketing is going to best suit the
country they are operating in. Mcdonalds promoted their kiwi burger through the form of a
youtube advert. The use of putting sliced beets on a burger became increasingly popular in
Australia and then in New Zealand. This advert markets specifically to the people in New
Zealand as it matches their popular eating habits. Advantages of adapting promotion
enables businesses to meet differences of local markets at various levels and achieve greater
levels of customer satisfaction.Disadvantages of advertising is that it is costly and would not
be deemed suitable for lower developed countries who don't have the technology or media
Mcdonalds is a food-service retail chain operator, the company operates and franchises
McDonald's restaurants that serve a locally-relevant menu of food and beverages. The first
McDonald's restaurant was opened in 1940 by brothers Maurice and Richard McDonald in
San Bernardino, California. The business is the world's leading global foodservice retailer
with over 38,000 locations in over 100 countries. The United States has the most
McDonald's in the world followed by Japan & China - all three of these countries account for
roughly 52% of the McDonald's in the world. In 2021 the business served approximately 70
million customers daily through its 40,031 restaurants worldwide. McDonald's runs on a
heavily franchised business model, thus nearly 93% of its restaurants were franchised
restaurants and the rest are company-operated restaurants.
It is important that businesses adapt their products, price, place and promotion for new
international markets. It is essential to consider the demands and preferences of customers
across the world. Since in different countries there are many differences which means that
adaptations must be made in order to satisfy local tastes and needs. Businesses trading
internationally should consider the impact of these adaptations and the extent to which
they need to make changes. Changes can incur an additional cost that might be essential to
trade in a new market.
Product
Businesses need to adapt their products for new international markets. The use of
adaptation can make a business's product/service more sensitive to the needs, preferences
and cultural differences of a specific market. This can make a product more saleable and
more able to stand up to local and international competition. For example McDonalds
adapted their menu to match eating habits in different countries. For instance drink sizes
and fries are much smaller in the UK compared to the US. McDonalds also changes the sizes
of their burgers and ingredients in the burgers to adapt to eating habits within different
countries. McDonalds works to adapt their menu to reflect different tastes and local
traditions in the country where they have restaurants, this is so that they respect cultural
differences this is demonstrated in Japan where the menu includes the Ebi-Filet-O Shrimp
Burger. The burger has ingredients which is a popular burger choice for Japanese customers.
McDonalds has also adapted their burger to suit local needs as in India where a cow is a
sacred animal their burgers contain chicken or fish instead of beef. Advantages of adapting a
product enables businesses to reach new customers and make their products more saleable
as they are reaching consumers' specific and desired needs. Disadvantages of adapting a
product will likely cost a business time and money so it is important to ensure the market
potential and the expected revenue in order to justify the expense.
, Price
Businesses need to adapt their price for new international markets for a range of reasons
with one being consumer affordability, this means that in different places around the world
how much a consumer spends on a specific product/service will vary. Another reason would
be exchange rates, these would vary depending on the demand for and supply of each
currency in different countries. Additionally, taxes, tariffs and transport can add to a
businesses costs so these costs will reflect how much they charge their customers. For
example in Switzerland they have the most expensive Big Macs in the world, at 6.71 US
dollars. Whereas in the United States the cost of a Big Mac stands at 5.15 dollars and in the
Euro area stands at 4.77 dollars. This is down to exchange rates of the different
countries.One advantage of adapting price allows businesses to tailor their prices to locality,
this means that Mcdonalds takes into consideration local consumer interests, needs and
demands. The use of taking these things into consideration provides the business with the
opportunity to avoid making a loss on products by making prices lower in regions where
people want to pay less (affordability). One disadvantage on adapting price would be the
influence local tax regulations have, the business may not be able to match the prices they
want to provide for their customers as they may need to increase prices to possibly just
break even on a product.
Place
Businesses need to adapt their place for a range of reasons with one being to ensure that
they are best placed for customers and employees to access the products and services the
business provides. Businesses can either be placed in cities, urban areas, universities, rural
or online. Many countries don’t have the same retail environments or the same distribution
structure so new distribution and transportation strategies will be necessary. It is also ideal
for businesses to expand into markets with stable economies due to the fact that they can
offer stable prices and receive sustainable growth.When operating in new international
markets the business will need to research the country and look into things such as the
economic environment. It is important for businesses to be aware of tax rates and
government incentives eg: grants. For example, in the Asia region they offer low tax regimes
compared to other countries - this would be beneficial for businesses due to the fact that
set-up costs would be lower which leads to more profit for a business like Mcdonalds for
instance. Mcdonalds purchases more than 96% of its products and supplies from Indian
suppliers, the business works closely with farmers in India to produce process-grade potato
varieties. An advantage of this would enable lower costs due to the fact that in India the
businesses transportation costs will decrease due to it being sourced locally - which leads to
more profit. An advantage of this is costs will be lower as transportation costs will decrease
when sourced locally so McDonalds will make more profit. Whereas a disadvantage of this
would be that many cultures are influenced by when and how their products and services
are made available and may not respond positively to adjustment.
Promotion
Particular advertising messages in countries may have to be adapted because of language,
political climate, cultural attitudes and religious practices. For example, a promotional
strategy in one country could cause offence in another and cause anger among those from
that country. A business must decide what form of marketing is going to best suit the
country they are operating in. Mcdonalds promoted their kiwi burger through the form of a
youtube advert. The use of putting sliced beets on a burger became increasingly popular in
Australia and then in New Zealand. This advert markets specifically to the people in New
Zealand as it matches their popular eating habits. Advantages of adapting promotion
enables businesses to meet differences of local markets at various levels and achieve greater
levels of customer satisfaction.Disadvantages of advertising is that it is costly and would not
be deemed suitable for lower developed countries who don't have the technology or media
