In this article:
- Shipping difficulties led to a shortage of potatoes in Japan led McDonald’s to limit french fry servings
- That quota proved unpopular, so the golden flew in spuds to meet consumer demand
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If your ship fails to come in, get on a plane: Disappointing customers is a good way to lose them. That point was driven home to McDonald’s when it saw the reaction to the proposed limit on french fries to small size only due to the shortage resulting from shipping issues.
McDonald’s customers in Japan really took that to heart, according to the dramatic description in Japan Today:
“December 21 was a dark day in Japan, and not just because, as the winter solstice, it marked the low point of daylight hours. There was also emotional darkness clouding the nation’s hearts, as, on that day, McDonald’s Japan announced its decision to suspend sales of medium and large-size orders of French fries at its restaurants across the country.”
But then light broke through the dark cloud. Look up in the sky! Is it a bird? No. Is it a plane? No, it’s three planes coming in from Vancouver to deliver those potatoes so essential to a happy experience at McDonald’s.
The planes’ capacity should suffice for 6.6 million servings of large (not small or medium) fries, according to the math worked out by a helpful tweet.
Certainly, the readership of Japan Today takes the food supply chain issue very seriously. There were 60 comments on the article, including one who pointed out a loophole that customers who really wanted more fries could have utilized:
bass4funkDec. 30, 2021 07:44 pm JST
Went to Miki D’s the other day I wanted to buy 1 med-sized fries and they told me I couldn’t because of this policy, sm fries only but I could buy 2 sm fries separately which technically works out to be the same thing as 1 med. which is what they suggested, but whoever thought of this idea, didn’t quite think this one through.
Good point! But I suppose that the pricing would make it more economical to buy the normal medium rather than two smalls, and that could annoy customers, as well.
But the real lesson here is that – unless you’re Apple – customer retention is not built on forcing constraints on customers but on finding a solution that averts disappointment.