McThai expects big boost from Fifa World Cup

Hester Chew, chairman of the executive committee and chief executive officer, said the company expected same-store growth of between 5 and 6 per cent.

He said the Fifa World Cup, the world's largest football tournament that kicks off in June in South Africa, would be a big growth driver for the fast-food chain.

"We will spend between 25 and 30 per cent of our marketing budget this year on World Cup activities," said Chew.

He said the company expected sales from its home-delivery service to expand by 40 to 50 per cent during the tournament.

He added that of the country's 130 McDonald's restaurants, more than 50 outlets would be open 24 hours a day during the World Cup with live broadcasts of the matches in-store.

McThai's CEO said the company's overall sales had grown by nearly 20 per cent last year, slightly below the target. Same-store sales, however, grew by just 1 per cent.

"We opened 17 McDonald's restaurants last year. The company's growth was driven by new stores," said Chew, adding that up to 17 stores would be opened this year.

Chew said the Thai quick-service restaurant industry was flat last year. However, the "informal eating-out" sector showed slight growth of between 2 and 3 per cent.

McThai has also revealed a 2010 business strategy of refocusing on "family with kids" customers.

Chew said the company would strengthen its brand awareness in this segment with a view to inducing repeat purchases.

He said about 29 per cent of McDonald's customers are teenagers, while 23 per cent each are young adults and adults. Another 23 per cent of customers are categorised in the "family with kids" segment.

"We want to grow the portion of 'family with kids' customers from 23 per cent to 28 per cent this year, and to grow their |share of McDonald's visits from 30 per cent to 37 per cent," said Chew.

He said the share of store visits by teens was 29 per cent last  year, with 22 per cent for young adults and 19 per cent for adults.

"We have seen a big opportunity in the 'family with kids' segment," Chew said. "We want to grow the sales of our Happy Meal menu set by 25 per cent this year."

Happy Meal sales grew by 9 per cent last year.

Chew said the company would continue to create bonding of the McDonald's brand among kids via school activities, birthday parties as well as mini-parties and workshops.

"'Family with kids' customers are high spenders with an average of between Bt150 and Bt180 per transaction, which is higher than the average purchase of about Bt90 by general customers. Their frequency of visit is between 2.2 and 2.5 times a month, which is higher than the average of about 1.6 times by general customers," he said.

McThai yesterday launched Game Comix, created by McDonald's to encourage the acquisition of knowledge and creative thinking among kids.

Game Comix is a fun software |program for the design of cartoon characters and postcards. It has also been created to boost kids' brainpower with mathematical games and riddles.