Despite the ever-shifting landscape of consumer trends, McDonald's remains a major player in the global restaurant industry. With its founder's motto, “We take the hamburger business more seriously than anyone else,” as a guiding principle, the company has adapted to changing consumer lifestyles and embraced the digital age - a feat that sets it apart from many of its competitors. Since its founding in San Bernardino, California, in 1940, McDonalds has expanded all over the globe. In 2023, there were over 41.8 thousand
, a figure that has grown steadily over the past decade. Meanwhile, the price of a Big Mac, one of the company’s most famous menu items, has been used by the Economist since 1986 in the aptly named
as an indicator for the purchasing power of an economy.
Where are McDonald's biggest markets?
McDonald's golden arches have become a familiar sight all over the world, however, the fast food giant accounted for by far the largest share of restaurants in its home country, the United States, with the
number of McDonald’s in the U.S. reaching around 13.4 thousand in 2023. Meanwhile, France and the United Kingdom were the
countries with the most McDonald’s in Europe, accounting for around 1.6 thousand and 1.4 thousand units, respectively. When looking at
McDonald's restaurants in the Asia Pacific and Middle East regions, China took the top spot, ahead of Japan and Australia.
Is McDonald's the biggest fast food brand in the world?
Over the years, McDonald’s has faced many competitors that have tried to usurp it from its top spot. One of its most public rivals is Burger King, a company that has targeted McDonald’s in its marketing campaigns since the 1980’s. While Burger King’s competitive sparring campaigns, including the "Whopper Detour," which used mobile geofencing to redirect customers away from McDonald’s to promote Burger King’s redesigned app, have had public success, McDonald’s remains the reigning king of fast food. In 2024, McDonald's had the second
highest brand value of any restaurant worldwide at 38 billion U.S. dollars, placing it way above competitors including global brands such as Burger King, KFC, and Subway.
Digital and delivery: McDonald’s evolving strategy
McDonald’s system focusing on efficiency, calculability, predictability, standardization, and control – also known as “McDonaldization” – has adapted over the last decades to the increasing mobility and digitalization of our society. With the
online food delivery market forecast to reach almost 1.8 trillion U.S. dollars by 2028, it comes as no surprise that digital and delivery have become core elements of McDonald’s business model. Its home delivery service, rolled out in 1993 as an alternative to in-store and drive-through purchases, has since developed into partnerships with online delivery services such as
UberEats,
DoorDash, and
GrubHub. They form, alongside drive-thru and restaurant development, the so-called “4Ds” strategy – McDonald’s plan to remain one of the most successful fast food brands in the world in the years ahead.
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