McDonald’s Scrambles to Adapt to New Consumer Tastes

For years, McDonald’s Corporation has been one of the world’s largest fast-food chains by sales volume and revenue. As of year-end 2025, McDonald’s had more than 39,000 restaurants in countries around the world and was serving tens of millions of customers per day.

Many fast food chains simplified their menus and decreased average times to complete drive-through orders. New building design concepts include smaller restaurants, with some offering drive-through service only, such as at some Wendy’s. Burger King unveiled a new design that is 60% smaller than its traditional restaurants. Customers may order through the BK app and have their food delivered to dedicated parking spaces or to pick-up lockers for mobile and delivery orders. Most fast-food restaurants offer similar apps and services.

Drive-through service is booming, especially at Chick-fil-A where lines often snake around city blocks creating traffic snarls. The problem got so bad at one location in Charlotte, North Carolina that city officials ordered the franchise to shut down and build a streamlined drive-through only building. Many Chick-fil-A’s feature double drive-through lines staffed with uniformed runners who take orders on a digital tablet and then deliver filled orders to waiting vehicles. The company reports that most of its locations average about $9.4 million in annual sales-a highly enviable level of revenues. This U.S.-based firm expanded modestly into Europe and Asia in 2025. If results are encouraging, it may have a presence in five international markets by 2030. Other chicken meal chains such as KFC have enjoyed large international markets, showing that fried chicken products are readily accepted by global consumers.

Consumer tastes are changing, especially among younger demographic groups which are trending toward healthier or fresher foods. McDonald’s has made efforts to add healthier items to its menus (such as salads, apple slices and oatmeal) and has had success with its gourmet coffee items.

The company is implementing digital self-service ordering stations, with orders delivered to restaurant tables by McDonald’s staff (traditional counter service continues to be available). This is part of the firm’s push to incorporate more technology in its restaurants. McDonald’s has invested heavily to upgrade U.S. locations with self-service kiosks and digital menu boards. It also created McD Tech Labs in Silicon Valley, California where engineers and tech scientists study innovation in food service. The company acquired Apprente, a California startup that developed voice-based platforms for placing orders; and Dynamic Yield, a technology firm with expertise in personalization and decision logic. The acquisitions enabled McDonald’s to improve its drive-through experience by personalizing menus based on factors such as weather and restaurant traffic.

Many innovations to McDonald’s menu and operations begin in its overseas locations. Baguette-style sandwich rolls used in French and Italian McDonald’s have been promoted in the U.S. Packaging that touts the company’s quality ingredients are standard in Europe and later became so in the U.S. The company has had success by tailoring its menu to suit local tastes.

McDonald’s and many of its franchisees have spent generously on remodeling existing locations, both in America and around the world. Its 19,000 square-foot LEED certified, glass and steel flagship restaurant is in Chicago, Illinois complete with a floating glass garden and a living wall. Meanwhile, rising wages are putting intense pressure on McDonald’s to increase efficiencies within the restaurants, reduce complexity and consider automation. Such automation could be easiest to implement in the form of computerized ordering, with consumers entering their own orders on a tablet or kiosk. The firm has been testing robotic deep fryers as well as voice-activated drive-throughs in an effort to shorten customer wait time. McDonald’s is also utilizing Servi delivery robots to move orders from counters to drive-through delivery windows, freeing up human staff to focus on tasks such as table service.

Wendy’s Co. and Burger King have been jockeying for leading spots on the list of top hamburger chains in the U.S. based on sales volume. Wendy’s is also offering a modestly priced value combination which includes a choice of a hamburger, four-piece chicken nuggets, small fries and a drink (Burger King and McDonald’s quickly responded with their own bundled value deals). Unfortunately, Wendy’s was closing hundreds of underperforming U.S. restaurants in 2026, potentially 5% to 6% of its domestic locations, due to steep sales declines at some locations, rising inflation and outdated store locations.

McDonald’s is not alone in its struggle to change consumer perceptions. Most fast food chains are working to remove or limit preservatives in addition to using antibiotic-free and added hormone-free chicken and beef.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is significantly impacting the restaurant, hotel and hospitality industry. Yum Brands, which owns Taco bell, Pizza Hut and KFC (among others) is implementing AI into its voice ordering systems, both for drive through lanes and phone orders. Partnering with Nvidia, the company began rolling out AI-powered voice ordering at 500 restaurants in 2025. Yum Brands reported that, as of 2025, more than 50% of its orders come through its app or online (compared to 19% in 2019), opening the door for AI systems to create better order systems, including ease-of-ordering for consumers. Not only will restaurants be able to replace human order-takers with AI, the technology can be designed to upsell orders by suggesting additional items or personalized selections.

With regard to hotels, AI is being used to analyze guest preferences based on previous bookings, requests and behaviors, and then suggest specific rooms, dining options and activities on a personalized basis. AI technology is also being integrated into websites and messaging apps to handle frequently asked questions (FAQs), manage bookings and provide multilingual support. In addition, AI can be paired with the internet of things (IoT) to enable guests to use apps or voice-activated tools for room temperature controls, lighting and entertainment systems. Moreover, AI can increase operational efficiency by analyzing seasonal events, competitor’s rates and even housekeeping patterns in order to make recommendations for improvements and operating efficiencies.

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