McDonald's Malaysia: Fuelling Up on Drive-Thru Convenience

McDonald's Drive-Thru outposts have rescued us from hunger countless times in the past three decades, offering the convenience of a speedy bite in between meetings or a satisfying supper after long hours at work, even after nearly every other restaurant has closed.

Now, it'll become easier to find and fuel up on our favourite Big Macs and Chicken McNuggets, as McDonald's Malaysia is ramping up its Drive-Thru business nationwide to cater to customers seeking fast, friendly service and feel-good meals to complement their on-the-go lifestyles.

Hassle-free and efficient, McDonald's prides itself on being Malaysia's Drive-Thru market leader, the most accessible and reliable in the country, continuously expanding its footprint in more cities and towns.

Fun fact: McDonald's Malaysia currently boasts 167 Drive-Thru restaurants - according to a recent announcement by McDonald’s Malaysia Managing Director and Local Operating Partner Azmir Jaafar, the company aims to open 20 new McDonald’s Drive-Thru restaurants this year. 

“The Drive-Thru segment of our business has seen significant growth since the opening of our first Drive-Thru restaurant at McDonald’s Titiwangsa in 1988," Azmir said. "And since then, the Drive-Thru segment has no doubt become an important key driver for the company, as Drive-Thru window sales contribute close to 50% of total sales for all 167 McDonald’s Drive-Thru restaurants. On top of that, we are seeing an average of 10% year-on-year growth in our Drive-Thru sales for the first quarter of 2019."

“By 2021, McDonald’s Malaysia aims for 70 percent of all McDonald’s restaurants nationwide to be Drive-Thru restaurants,” Azmir added.

On 26-28 April, McDonald's Malaysia organised a Drive-Thru Weekend Challenge that saw a total of 473,860 cars zoom off with their favourite McDonald’s meal from the 167 McDonald’s Drive-Thru restaurants nationwide over three days. The number of cars, if parked bumper to bumper, would be roughly equivalent to 150 times the length of the first Penang Bridge, McDonald's estimates.

McDonald’s Malaysia also successfully set a new record on 27 April for the highest vehicle count accessing McDonald’s Drive-Thru restaurants over the course of 24 hours, with a total of 164,235 vehicles. This led the company to be officially recognised by the Malaysia Book of Records for achieving the “Largest Participation for a Drive-Thru Challenge in 24 Hours."

“We would like to thank Malaysians for being good sports and making this Drive-Thru Weekend a success. It was great to see the immense response for this challenge, especially seeing families coming to McDonald’s Drive-Thru restaurants nationwide to participate,” said Azmir. 

An exciting consumer activation in conjunction with the Drive-Thru Weekend was also launched on the McDonald’s app on 17-30 April. The Drive-Thru Hero Challenge encouraged customers to drive through and check in at as many McDonald’s Drive-Thru restaurants as possible to stand a chance of being among the Top 10 Drive-Thru Heroes. With one stop equalling 10 points, the Top 10 Heroes received cash based on their points. For others, every five stops at McDonald’s Drive-Thrus unlocked offers on McDonald’s menu items.  

McDonald’s isn't hitting the brakes on these accomplishments - the company expects a 10 to 15 percent increase in vehicle count at McDonald’s Drive-Thru restaurants moving forward as this segment accelerates in the next few years. 

“We have seen 15 years of success of the McDonald’s Drive-Thru VIP loyalty programme, and we promise greater consumer activation in the future as we continue to improve our operational efficiency. We are committed to maintaining our market leadership today and confident that we will meet growing consumer needs for a wide variety of great-tasting and quality food during any time of the day just by driving-thru McDonald’s,” said Azmir. 

This post was brought to you by McDonald's Malaysia. Photos are courtesy of McDonald's.

This post first appeared on eatdrinkkl.com