麦当劳应如何扭转销量颓势？

    面对连续数月毫无起色的收益报告，麦当劳每位高管必然都在琢磨同一个问题：究竟如何才能扭转局势？

    麦当劳周一宣布，11月份，该公司全球同店销售额下降2.2%，美国同店销售额下降4.6%。其美国销售额毫无增长的局面已持续一年有余。

    这位快餐连锁巨头怎样才能摆脱正加速恶化的局面？以下是四种扭转颓势的可行的方法。

    转向快速休闲餐饮。鉴于快速休闲餐厅对快餐店市场份额的不断侵蚀，麦当劳或许应该尝试改变其低价低质的形象。

    麦当劳似乎也正在朝这个方向发展。首席执行官唐•汤普森在一份声明中称：“现在的趋势是，消费者在用餐时要求有更多选择、更便利，并获取更多的价值。”

    至少，麦当劳的一些门店正专注于增加菜单种类，推出可订制菜单，让顾客拥有更多的选择，以及价格更高的汉堡。据《今日美国》（USA Today）报道，麦当劳已着手将之前在加州4家门店开展的“自选口味”（Create Your Taste）试运行项目扩展到另外五个州的30家门店。到2015年，美国将有2000家门店推出“自选口味”服务，顾客可以通过触屏点餐台选择更多种类的高端汉堡，可以加鸡蛋、熏肉、烤蘑菇等食材。《今日美国》还称，优质汉堡的价格也更高。汉堡加上饮料和薯条，售价约8.29美元（约合人民币51元）。

    此前，麦当劳也曾在澳大利亚广泛试运行这项服务，公司计划将该服务在澳大利亚全国推广。无独有偶，澳大利亚是麦当劳在亚太、中东和非洲区的唯一亮点。尽管澳大利亚的业绩良好，但这一区域的同店销售额下跌了4%。

    推出更多鸡肉食品。麦当劳在“自选口味”的菜单上，增加了第二种肉：鸡肉。现在顾客可以通过触屏点餐台自行“制作”鸡肉三明治。

    鸡肉是2014年快餐业出人意料的明星产品。美国鸡肉快餐服务连锁店福来鸡（Chick-fil-A）和伯强格斯（Bojangles）发展迅猛，并且，整个快餐行业的餐厅都在增加鸡肉菜品数量。过去4年里，鸡肉三明治销量的年均增速达到了3%。

    我们暂且不论三明治的卡路里含量是否真的更高，但鸡肉被视为一种比汉堡更健康的选择，而这也让备受欢迎的鸡肉与快速休闲趋势一拍即合。此外，随着牛肉和猪肉价格的上涨，对于希望为顾客提供更多菜品的餐厅来说，鸡肉在成本上十分划算。对于麦当劳这家世界上最大的汉堡连锁企业来说，弱化汉堡地位、转而专注鸡肉的时代或已来临。

    简化菜单。“自选口味”服务的菜单在理论上听起来很棒，但似乎与麦当劳的一个计划背道而驰，即简化“拥挤”的菜单。

    After months and months of depressing earnings reports, one question must be on every McDonald’s MCD -3.84% exec’s mind: How on earth can we turn things around?

    Same-store sales fell 2.2 percent globally and 4.6 percent in the U.S. in November, McDonald’s reported on Monday. The chain hasn’t seen any growth sales in the U.S. for over a year.

    How can the fast-food chain pull itself out of the rapidly deepening rut? Here are four possible ways to turn things around.

    Go fast-casual.As the fast-casual business increasingly cuts into the market for fast food, it may be time for McDonald’s to try and ditch its cheap but low-quality reputation.

    It seems the chain may be heading that way. “Today’s consumers increasingly demand more choice, convenience and value in their dining-out experience,” McDonald’s CEO Don Thompson said in a statement.

    At least some McDonald’s locations are focusing on boosting the choice aspect, with a customizable menu that offers more options – and pricier burgers. McDonald’s “Create Your Taste” test platform is now expanding from four California stores to 30 locations in five more states, reports USA Today. By 2015, 2,000 U.S. locations will offer the menu platform, which allows customers to order more high-end burgers with toppings like eggs, smoked bacon and grilled mushrooms via tablet-like kiosks. The higher-quality burgers cost substantially more, with a customer burger with a drink and fries coming in at around $8.29, according to USA Today.

    The option is additionally expanding nationally in Australia, where the platform has also been widely tested. Incidentally, Australia was the only bright spot in McDonald’s Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa (APMEA) same-store sales, which dropped 4 percent despite Australia’s positive performance.

    Serve more chicken.With the expansion of the “Create Your Taste” platform, McDonald’s is adding a second meat to the menu: Chicken. Now customers will be able to build their own chicken sandwiches at the kiosks.

    Chicken was the surprise MVP of the quick service industry in 2014, with chicken chains like Chick-fil-A and Bojangles thriving and restaurants across the industry adding more chicken to the menu. Servings of breaded chicken sandwiches have grown an average of 3 percent over the last four years.

    Chicken is seen as a healthier option than burgers, whether or not the sandwiches actually have a higher calorie count, helping the trendy fowl to fit in with the fast-casual trend. Additionally, with increased beef and pork prices, chicken is an economically sound options for restaurants interested in expanding their menu. Maybe it’s time for the biggest burger chain in the world to downplay the hamburger and focus on chicken instead.

    Simplify the menu.While the “Create Your Taste” menu sounds awesome in theory, it seems to run counter one of McDonald’s plans: simplifying the overstuffed menu.