Food Translations: McDonald’s is Introducing “Choose Your Taste China”

This week in the news, McDonald’s goes digital, adding savvy high-tech elements to its faltering China stores in an attempt to update its food translations and images to attract the attention of the trendy youngsters who have seemingly abandoned the chain restaurant in recent years.

After a rough year in the Chinese market, McDonald’s is looking to win back the loyalty of their customers. Following a food safety scandal earlier in the year, the popular Western fast food restaurant saw its sales plummet to an all-time low. The chain is now making its way back into headlines with its latest initiative: Choose Your Taste China. The program is taking the average dining experience to a new level, allowing customers to customize their hamburgers, adding any condiments they want. The burger machine offers an overwhelming number of options, allowing customers to not only choose their vegetables of choice, but also to choose between three different types of bacon.  China is the sixth country in the world to feature the new concept.  After just a couple of trial weeks, the demand for the customized burgers has already beat expectations, with purchases reaching levels five times higher than McDonald’s estimated.

If state of the art burgers aren’t enough to get you running towards the nearest McDonald’s, perhaps the availability of mobile-payment will. The fast food retailer is catering to the needs of trendy Chinese consumers who prefer to pay with their phone, rather than carry their wallets. Many top-notch Chinese chains, such as famed hot-pot restaurant Hai Di Lao, have already successfully introduced mobile payments. In a nation that has hundreds of millions smartphone users that increasingly use their devices on a daily basis, the availability of this form of payment is sure to meet customer demand.

Although these technologies are in their early stages of development, McDonald’s is clearly set on entering the age of digital to attract customers. Following in the steps of modern-day population seeking to pursue individuality and uniqueness, McDonald’s is introducing Choose Your Taste China and thus showing it’s well under way of shaping its future as a modern, progressive burger company. (Wall Street Journal)

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