McDonald’s home delivery in Tokyo

McDonald’s is making significant strategic changes in Japan where the chain has seen a shift in cons…

McDonald’s is making significant strategic changes in Japan where the chain has seen a shift in consumer preference toward at-home dining.

As a result, it plans a national rollout of home delivery service as well as expansion of the McCafé business.

Japan is McDonald’s second largest market worldwide, after the US. McDonald’s (Japan) recently announced a 2.2pc year-on-year drop in same-store sales for the third quarter, although comparable guest counts were up 2.9pc.

The company attributed the sales decline to an ‘increasingly turbulent business environment’ due to decline in popularity of the Informal Eating Out (IEO) market segment, and a demand shift to HMR (Home Meal Replacement] market.

McDonald’s Japan says part of its ‘brand extension’ includes ‘full-scale deployment of a McDelivery service.’

Home delivery has been tested over the past year with promising results, the company says.

National deployment will take place in 2013.

In the US, the rival Burger King chain recently announced it is offering delivery in selected high-density areas in several cities, including New York.