comming soon to a moo baan near you ..............
McDonald's on a roll with expansion
By Nitida Asawanipont
The Nation
Published on July 31, 2008
McThai, operator of McDonald's restaurants in Thailand, plans aggressive expansion and marketing in the second half of the year, following impressive sales growth in the first six months.
It will open 1720 new branches nationwide in the second half. Ten of them will have drivethrough service, allowing customers to order and take delivery of food in their cars. The rest will be ordinary branches.
CEO Hester Chew said the drivethrough branches would cost about Bt25 million each and the others between Bt13 million and Bt15 million. McThai opened only two new McDonald's branches in the first half.
The company expects a recently launched marketing campaign, timed to coincide with the Beijing Olympics, to boost sales 20 per cent.
Yesterday, it launched a new menu item called Fish 'n' Fries, and the company plans to spend Bt20 million on a marketing promotion called "Rak Krai Hai Kin Pla", which will run through August and September. The new Fish 'n' Fries is a temporary addition to McDonald's two permanent fishburger products and expected to help double its sales of fish burgers.
The expansion and marketing plans follow doubledigit sales growth for McDonald's during the first half, while the rest of the quickservicerestaurant market experienced flat growth.
The major factors contributing to the performance were the addition of new menu items, opening of new McCafe branches, renovation of 14 existing branches, introduction of 24hour delivery and extension of opening hours at many branches to 24 hours, Chew said.
Of total sales, hamburgers contribute 60 per cent, while the rest comes from other food and beverages.
The recent move by McDonald's competitor KFC to market its hamburger products actively after a decade of quiet sales does not worry Chew. He said the competitor's new burgermenu advertisements had helped his firm, because they reminded customers of McDonald's. KFC's entry into hamburger competition may also stimulate the entire market, he said.
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