Only in China: McDonald's Goes Online to Sell Consumer Goods
In February, McDonald’s (MCD) launched an online shop on Alibaba’s Taobao, China’s top online auction site, to promote its Super Value meal. The fast-food giant wasn’t selling burgers. Instead, for two months it sold popular and fashionable products such as mobile phones, digital cameras and MP3 players on its virtual store, along with the more-predictable gift vouchers. Many gifts were sold at promotional, discounted prices.
The McDonald’s Super Value online store was the chain’s first online shop, according to Phyllis Cheung, chief marketing officer of McDonald’s China. “It’s a strategic media tactic to target the right audience,” she said–specifically, urban adults in their 20s.
