The Fast Food Industry and its Evolution

The world has become fast paced where everything seems to be rushing and every aspect of life is industrialized. The revolution in fast food industry is also no exception as people demand food which is easily available and are constantly looking for innovation in food. The food industry has evolved in a way that has kept changing with the changing demands of customers and being responsive their tastes and preferences. The global food industry generates a revenue of over 570 billion US dollars (Franchise Help, 2018). The customers focus mostly on variance in food, its price and most importantly quality of food. Although, restaurants aim at providing highly processed food, the consistency in maintaining the quality matters the most. Therefore, a research has been conducted to identify the changing dynamics of fast food industry and customer experience at KFC franchises.

KFC is the abbreviation for Kentucky Fried Chicken founded by Colonel Harland Sanders in the year 1952. Currently, KFC is one of the most famous and successful fast food restaurant chain across the globe. The major product of KFC is chicken alongside delicious wraps, salads, burgers and sandwiches. The inspiration behind this successful food chain was Harland Sanders’ great idea of making people happy by serving excellent food and outstanding customer service (Kentucky Fried Chicken, 2018).  KFC has its branches in more than 118 countries in the world. The main markets of KFC are Europe, Asia, North America, South America and some parts of Africa. KFC uses aggressive marketing techniques to remain a dominant player in the fast food industry. KFC maintains its customer service by providing highest standards of professional and personal integrity at all times (Success Story, 2018). But in recent times, KFC franchisees are facing trouble due to financial instability of the franchisees and inconsistency in food quality. The reason behind lowering customer satisfaction is unethical practices by some franchises. From the research it has been found that KFC lacks in customer management skills which leads to a bad image in the minds of customers (Taylor, 2016). 

Customer experience management (CEM) refers to a process that optimizes interactions with the customers and maintain customer loyalty. In order to manage customer experience, companies have to create customer-centric strategies that helps in maintaining customer loyalty (Schmitt, 2010). The process starts with understanding the customers’ needs and identifying the target market which follows with developing a connection with the customers and later gaining feedback regarding the service or product. This helps in understanding the level of customer satisfaction and accordingly prepare strategies. The research objective is to improve KFC’s customer experience and provide recommendations on the factors responsible for its low customer satisfaction. The online survey will be conducted on two age group segments, i.e., children of 12-20 age group and the salaried people of 25-32 age group. The primary research was conducted by asking customers to fill an online questionnaire which would provide in-depth knowledge on customers’ response towards KFC’s customer service across various franchisees. These questionnaires were available on the social networking sites like Facebook. This showed that the customers were concerned about hygiene issues in the franchisees. The online survey helped in finding out the gap between the services KFC actually provides and what appropriate strategies it should formulate to retain its customers. The research based on interviewing the customers of different age group but specifically to the age group of 12-20, income levels of customers but specifically on salaried age group of 25-32. The customers provided the feedback that they require more offers and product variance in the KFC menu. 

Exploring KFC Franchise

The secondary research was conducted from gathering information from various sources like journals, articles, newspapers and daily reports. The information was gathered from the internet and also from official website of KFC. It was found that KFC has a lot of franchisees across the globe which requires proper maintenance and financial security to continue with the operations (Oakley III, Larkins & Winkle, 1999). This leads breaking of quality parameters and reduced customer satisfaction. As per reports it was found that some of the KFC franchisees are unable to maintain required stock level which leads to unavailability of few items on the menu which ultimately risks the inflow of customers in that franchisee. This kind of attitude towards customers will can hamper the franchisor (KFC) goodwill in the market (The Washington Post, 2018).

The primary research was conducted online to derive the feedback on KFC’s performance in recent times and understand the customer experience in those franchisees. The questionnaires gave an insight on the needs of the customers and their preferences on the food menu as per their country. For example, the franchisees in China required breakfast meals for the older people and healthy options for people who are fitness conscious. The customers rated very low customer experience in some of the franchisees of KFC that showed that it needs strategies that can retain most of its customers. The people who regularly visit KFC have reported a decline in the food quality and no adequate service at the franchisees (Wolf, 2014). 

The interviews were mostly taken by people of 12-20 and 25-32 age group. They expressed their viewpoints regarding the franchisee they visit often. Unfortunately, majority of the people have experienced a sudden decline in the food quality and customer service. The research, therefore, makes it clear that KFC should target the right audience and ponder upon right marketing techniques to attract more customers. Although there is a great fan following for KFC, few bad reviews also majorly affect the sales.

In order to retain customers, KFC can target the younger generation who are the highest consumers of fast food. KFC can interact with this age group through social media platforms, direct mail, and retail stores and through advertising. It is now important to map the customer goals and understand the need to interact with customers. KFC need to make its customers aware about their new products and additions in the food menu to attract their attention. The next step is where the customers consider the options available to them and finally they will decide whether to buy or not. KFC can target on the food habits of younger generation and provide them with healthy options to consider.

Challenges Faced by KFC

The above model is developed by David Court, Dave Elzinga, Susan Mulder, and Ole Jorgen Vetvik in an article published by McKinsey & Company. This loop model illustrates the buying process of customers which is very important for companies to understand in order to provide better experience to its customers (Meyer & Schwager, 2007). The first stage illustrates that the awareness can be done through social media platforms. The second stage is where the customers’ minds work according to their awareness of the brand. The third stage is where the customers selects the brand at the point of purchase. The last stage is the post purchase experience. Here, the consumer builds certain expectations based on their first-hand experience received. This will decide their purchase journey ahead. 

In recent times, KFC has faced a few rave reviews from its customers due to lack of customer care services and lowering food quality in some franchisees. KFC can adopt few strategies to improve its customer service management. KFC can innovate its food menu on basing upon the country of operation. For instance, Arab countries can have local delicacies in their food menu. The target customers like the younger generation can expect healthy options on their menu containing less of fried food and dishes containing herbs and natural ingredients. The salaried age group spend their money on food but look for better options at a better place to eat. KFC can add budget friendly food combos on their menus which lets customers to manually select their desired combos. This will help customers to receive budget friendly options every day. It is also important to maintain the hygiene level within the franchisees and restrict any unethical practices that compromises with the goodwill of the franchisor.

Conclusion

From the above research conducted, it can be concluded that KFC is truly a successful company in terms of planning ahead and making market strategies to remain a dominant player in the fast food industry. Based on the research and feedback from customers, KFC surely is facing some whiplashes in recent years due to falling food quality and customer services in some of its franchises. However, certain points have been suggested that can help the company to improve further in terms of food and maintaining customer relations. 

References

Franchise Help. (2018). Fast Food Industry Analysis 2018 – Cost & Trends. Retrieved from https://www.franchisehelp.com/industry-reports/fast-food-industry-analysis-2018-cost-trends/ 

Kentucky Fried Chicken. (2018). We Make Our Chicken
the Hard Way. Retrieved from https://www.kfc.com/about/how-kfc-makes-chicken 

Meyer, C., & Schwager, A. (2007). Customer experience. Harvard business review, 85(2), 116-126.

Oakley III, E. F., Larkins, E. R., & Winkle, G. M. (1999). Issues in managing the multinational corporation. The CPA Journal, 69(1), 49.

Schmitt, B. H. (2010). Customer experience management: A revolutionary approach to connecting with your customers.  New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons.

Success Story. (2018). Kentucky Fried Chicken Success Story. Retrieved from https://successstory.com/companies/kentucky-fried-chicken 

Taylor. K. (2016). KFC admits it’s been making the same mistake for decades – and now it has a plan to beat Chick-fil-A. Retrieved from https://www.businessinsider.in/KFC-admits-its-been-making-the-same-mistake-for-decades-160and-now-it-has-a-plan-to-beat-Chick-fil-A/articleshow/52364313.cms 

The Washington Post. (2018). The #KFCCrisis has some Britons so upset that they’ve called police — and Parliament. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2018/02/19/kfc-restaurants-in-the-u-k-have-a-problem-they-dont-have-chicken/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.5cf331a35327 

Wolf. B. (2014). All Access: KFC. Retrieved from https://www.qsrmagazine.com/exclusives/all-access-kfc