How McDonald's grew on national highways? 🍟
The classic insight of following the "____"
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When most restaurants on highway shutdown within few years of operation, McDonald's has managed to thrive ⬇️
Quick context 🗓
I drove over 1,000 kms in last 2 weeks between Maharashtra, Karnataka & Goa. During these travel I took a number of breaks & this post legit triggered when lot of coincidences started happening.
First, my break times had a McDonalds close by ✨
Say if you are doing Mumbai to Goa, you will find a McDonald's franchise location for breakfast, lunch, high tea & dinner time. Prioritising locations along the highway for highway traffic breaks than optimising for city public that has high friction to come out of the city just for McDonald's.
Second, it solved for speed & fun for few 🚗
Every freaking McDonald’s had a working Drive Through & man, it was FAST. It solved for my speedy experience and also solved for other travellers (typically with family & kids) with the dining experience and making a mini park out of the location front.
Third, it upsell-ed the right thing 🍟
When was the last time you went into a McDonald’s and did not buy fries? Me? - None. The fries are the perfect upsell complementing current order.
Fourth, clutter free experience 🍽
Order almost anything from fries, burger or even the ice creams, the takeaway menu is optimised for being clutter free. Everything just fits nicely in the car bottle holders.
Lastly, the store timings ⏰
Except a few items (say, hash browns), most of the menu is available for over 15 hours, giving you the flexibility to order whatever you like. Not unlike traditional restaurants.
But, what's the core insight? 💡
If you have observed, most of the structure revolves around who are the customers, what do they do when they do it, what do they really want and don't plus who is with them has allowed McDonald's imbibe it's highway strategy to it's growth.
"Following the user" never gets old ✨
And most of growth can be solved for if you do it right. During the GrowthX experience, you will speak to users of your product in a structure & understand the insights deeply, then build hypothesis, build conviction & design growth experiments. All in a peer set of diverse growth, marketing, product leaders.