McDonald's Key to Success Abroad: It Delivers

McDonald's and KFC are surging ahead in emerging markets like China and India with a service available to few American customers: home delivery. In crowded cities across Asia and the Middle East where pricey real estate makes drive-through restaurants a rare sight, fleets of motorbikes make their way through traffic to deliver American fast food, the Wall Street Journal finds.

In China—where KFC is the country's biggest fast-food chain—the company provides delivery at more than half of its 3,500 restaurants. McDonald's delivery is available in 15 countries; of the 8,800 restaurants there, 1,500 will bring a burger to your door. At McDonald's, "we've used the slogan, 'If you can't come to us, we'll come to you,'" says an exec at the fast food chain, which has seen double-digit growth in delivery sales every year in countries where it is offered. In Egypt, which has had McDonald's delivery since 1994, such orders make up 30% of sales. Most orders are still phoned in, but execs say they're excited about growth in online ordering—especially since web customers tend to order more food. (More fast food stories.)