Why are Kentucky Fried Chicken and McDonald's doing so well in Chinese dining?
In the Chinese market, the whole situation is: KFC not only won the McDonald's, but also pulled away from the latter a large distance; KFC in China, the development of left and right, comfortable, and McDonald's always seems to appear to be incompatible with the soil, poor breath. Whether in the total operating income, the total number of chain stores and the expansion rate and even the average to each store's operating power and yield, KFC is far ahead of its old rival McDonald's, the two in the Chinese market, the results of the fight, has formed an indisputable disparity in the gap. In this regard, some people have pointed out that it is the Chinese people's preference for chicken that gives KFC a head start in the competition with McDonald's. In their view, Americans prefer chicken. In their view, Americans prefer beef, which is why McDonald's leads the way in the U.S., while in China, people prefer pork and chicken. In addition, KFC's leadership in China was more aware of Chinese tastes, and that they did not prefer the "white meat" of chicken breasts as much as Americans do, and that no matter how well seasoned the "Original Chicken" may be, it was not the most appropriate and appealing product for Chinese consumers. In addition, they also found that many Chinese customers like spicy food, so in terms of product development, KFC China has been based on China's national conditions from the beginning, with the purpose of localization, and strive to introduce products that are more suitable for Chinese people's tastes. For example, their Hot Wings and Hot Thighs burgers have been very popular with the majority of Chinese consumers. These are some of the reasons for KFC's success in China, but not all of them. If it is only because of the Chinese preference for chicken that KFC has won, this explanation is too one-sided and far-fetched. The reasoning is simple: given the choice between tea and coffee, the Chinese undoubtedly prefer tea, but the emergence of Starbucks has revolutionized the tea-drinking and leisure habits of a generation or more of Chinese. They prefer coffee to tea, and they prefer to spend the whole day in a café rather than in a teahouse. In KFC in China, author Gordon Liu points out that the reasons for KFC's triumph in China include all aspects of the strategy execution process. For example, in the 1980s and 1990s, when KFC had no choice but to seek a local joint venture partner, it chose some enterprises with local government and source relations to help it develop the market, and once foreign enterprises were no longer restricted to sole proprietorship, KFC turned to sole proprietorship, and from then on it was in full control of its own resources, decision-making, and destiny; according to the needs of the local market, it provides the best localized products, services, and services in a timely manner that can satisfy customers' needs. To build a localized brand image by providing the best localized products, services and dining environments that meet the needs of the local market; to build a localized supply chain by centralizing purchases and distributing them to a small number of the most capable suppliers in order to ensure high quality and low cost; to build a complete and efficient staff recruitment, training and restaurant management system in order to ensure that highly capable and motivated restaurant staff continuously provide the best service to the customers; and to actively promote The author is the former Vice President of KFC Greater China, so as a "man behind the curtain", he has more say and credibility on KFC's management, operations, strategies and practices in China. Therefore, as a "behind-the-scenes" person, he has more say and credibility on KFC's management, operation, strategy and practice in China. At the same time, we also notice that in his "Breakdown of Success", he has mentioned "localization" and "human factor" several times, which McDonald's has not done enough in this regard, and maybe that's why KFC is ahead of the game. Maybe that's why KFC is ahead of the game. All indications are that KFC won McDonald's win in China is reasonable, McDonald's lost KFC must have lost convincingly. Although objectively speaking, KFC in the global scope from the whole is not as good as McDonald's, but in China, due to the KFC Chinese market specificity of understanding and attention, especially in the localization of the practice is often unique, so it will be in the many foreign fast-food brands to stand out. Comparatively speaking, McDonald's development in the Chinese market is "lagging behind and sluggish" and "wandering and swaying" attitude, perhaps this is related to McDonald's global market positioning. To a certain extent, when the Chinese market in the view of KFC is a fortress of the town, McDonald's see it as a platform to support its development in other markets. In other words, due to KFC and McDonald's inconsistent positioning of the Chinese market and the global market, the degree of importance of different, resulting in strategic decision-making in several major factors, which determines the speed of expansion and the number of chain stores in the Chinese market. So, in this sense, KFC win may not be a real win, and McDonald's loss may not be a real loss. The most important point, they meet the public taste.