How McDonald’s Is Forcing Customers Into Spending More Money

Even McDonald’s, a globally successful chain with an astronomical restaurant marketing budget, needs to find new ways to drive up profit.

With a shift of consumer preferences and an increase in costs of ingredients, restaurants are revising their marketing. That is why McDonald’s is hoping that their newly restructured menu, among other factors, can deceive customers into paying more.

New Menu

Because consumers are moving away from junk food towards more healthier options, McDonald’s has been forced to change how it operates. The greatest change to McDonald’s strategy is the second shake-up to its value menu in less than 7 years. After the retirement of the dollar menu in 2013, McDonald’s introduced a value menu that included $2 and $3 options. The results weren’t as beneficial to McDonald’s as they had hoped. 

Customers were reluctant to explore the more expensive choices. Now, McDonald’s hopes that their pick 2 for $5 menu will force consumers to spend more at their restaurant. That means that if you are looking to buy something from the value menu, you will have to spend at least $5. The value menu has also removed the famous happy meal, forcing parents to pay full price.

Banking On New Technology

Delivery options are another way that McDonald’s is hoping to increase capital. Thanks to apps like Uber eats and Postmates, customers are spending as much as 2 times more on their order than usual. The extra money from fees are split between McDonald’s and the delivery services. Self-service kiosks inside the restaurants are also removing the rush of ordering from customers in line. The increase in ordering times means that customers who use the kiosk have more time with the menu. This means that the kiosk customers have longer exposure to pricier food items. McDonald’s has also added more expensive ingredients as options.

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