McDonald's

McDonald's is a part of the fast food industry and is operating within a competitive industrial environment. Fast food restaurants represent one of the largest segments of the food industry with over 200,000 restaurants and $120 Billion in sales in the U.S. alone. Fast food restaurants, also known as quick service restaurants (QSRs), are noted for their short food preparation time.

Since late 2006, the fast food industry's growth has been slowed by soaring food and energy prices as well as, the increase in health conscious consumers. The high prices of commodities, combined with the housing slump and a weakening job market are taking a toll on restaurant spending worldwide. The same food and energy inflation that has eating away at consumer spending is also taking a bite out of the company’s margins. Fast food Restaurants have navigated this difficult landscape with varying levels of success. .  However, the economic recovery will bring consumers back to fast-food restaurants

Although McDonald's is the clear leader of the fast food industry in terms of revenues generated and restaurants established; it faces competition from other fast food chains, which are introducing new products themselves. Here in Canada, Companies, like Burger King, Subway, Wendy’s and Tim Horton’s are strong competitors to McDonald's faces competition from other fast food chains, which are introducing new products themselves. A major direct competitor in the (hamburger-based) fast food industry is Burger King which is the second largest hamburger fast food chain in the world. Although more of Burger King’s restaurants are franchised than McDonald’s restaurants, Burger King Franchise revenues trail behind that of McDonald's  mainly due to McDonald’s size advantage. Wendy's is the third largest hamburger fast food chain. It has a lower operating margin that McDonald’s, but is still very popular in Canada.

McDonald’s is one of the most successful companies on the planet. There are more than 1,400 McDonald's restaurants in Canada employing more than 77,000 Canadians. McDonald's operates over 31,000 restaurants worldwide, employing more than 1.5 million people. McDonald's makes money by operating its own restaurants and franchising to third parties. McDonald's targets a mass majority of customers as they do not aim to gain the attention of one particular audience in particular. Their goal is to entice and draw in all possible customers regardless of age, income, nationality, sex or lifestyle. . McDonald's caters to all their consumers’ wants and needs by offering fast efficiently prepared meals with customer preferences. They are willing to do everything within their natural capability to meet a customer's expectations in order to make the experience as great as possible and to encourage follow up visits

McDonald's prices its products at a relatively low price. They attract customers by using their speed in service as opposed to quality in the product itself. McDonald's may not be the best tasting nor most healthy, but they are the most popular. They also focus on promotional pricing where they incorporate many deals and coupons that customers can use to save money while McDonald's continues generate revenue