For years, McDonald’s has become synonymous with fast food commercial properties with thousands of commercial property restaurants worldwide. However, the question is whether we really are, as they keep telling us, “lovin’ it”.
Despite being the largest fast food chain in the world, a recent poll taken in the United States of America has proven once and for all that bigger is not necessarily better. The commercial property chain scored lowest in the customer satisfaction survey compiled by the American Consumer Satisfaction Index (ACSI).
McDonald’s Corporation has historically performed poorly in the annual survey, and back in 2000 the average customer satisfaction result in the company’s commercial properties was a measly 59 per cent. On the bright side, this has climbed steadily since then, and this year rose to 73 per cent – up one per cent from last year.
Vice President of operations for the commercial property chain, Jim McCabe, highlights the growing customer satisfaction rankings with pride.
He says; “Our internal and third-party research shows that we continue to make progress in satisfying our customers.
“In fact, the producers of the American Customer Satisfaction Index said that McDonald’s customer satisfaction is at an all-time high.”
McDonald’s and direct rivals Burger King consistently score very similarly on the ACSI survey, with Burger King stores generally outperforming by a small margin. This was the story again this year, with Burger King commercial properties sitting on 75 per cent satisfaction to McDonald’s 73 per cent.
However, American commercial property chain Wendy’s rose to the top of the burger chart, with a 78 per cent customer satisfaction result. Although there are no Wendy’s commercial properties in the UK currently, the company used to trade here but were forced out by strong competition from McDonald’s and Burger King, both of which are popular in Britain.
In the pizza category, Papa John’s blew all other commercial property competitors out of the water by scoring an impressive 83 per cent satisfaction, while Italian restaurant chain Olive Garden dropped 2 percentage points from last year to achieve 80 per cent.
McDonald’s has consistently ranked last in the ACSI survey since 1995, yet it seems that it is not the only commercial property chain found on British high streets that is held in poor esteem by our trans-Atlantic neighbours. Pizza Hut, Domino’s Pizza, Kentucky Fried Chicken and even Starbucks all failed to break the 80 per cent customer satisfaction barrier, with all scoring 78 per cent or less.
However, one high street favourite in Britain did rank highly in the ACSI study. Subway commercial properties scored an average of 82 per cent customer satisfaction, putting the sandwich chain only one percentage point behind table toppers Papa John’s.
With McDonald’s having recently built their largest commercial property restaurant in London in order to cash in on the Olympics, perhaps their customer satisfaction ratings across the pond should pose a slight cause for concern on its Board of Directors. Yet with commercial properties in 33,000 different locations worldwide, and a daily customer turnover of over 68 million, it seems that many people really are lovin’ it.
Do you eat at fast food commercial property restaurants such as McDonald’s or Burger King frequently? Which UK commercial property fast food chain would you say is the best?
