McDonald’s to Expand Kiosks, Delivery, Menu to Draw Customers

Fast food giant McDonald’s has lost a few customers and wants to win them back. Executives plan to expand the company’s “delivery, mobile and kiosk-ordering options as it looks to cut costs.” From CNBC:

“Through enhanced technology to elevate and modernize the customer experience, a focus on the quality and value of our food and redefined convenience through delivery, we have a bold vision for the future and the urgency to act on it,” said Easterbrook. “We are moving with velocity to drive profitable growth and becoming an even better McDonald’s serving more customers delicious food each day around the world.”

Those in charge know they must make changes:

“We have to attract more customers, more often,’’ says Lucy Brady, the company’s senior vice-president for corporate strategy and business development. “We’ve lost hundreds of millions of visits from our core customers – students, teachers, construction workers’’ and others.

In Chicago, executives stated it wants to remodel restaurants to feature models “that includes kiosk ordering and Bluetooth-enabled table service.” The company hopes to remodel 650 restaurants across the country to have this technology, bringing the total number to 2,400 out of its 14,000 restaurants.

Kiosks have taken off in fast food restaurants as a way to lower costs. Wendy’s started using kiosks last year and announced last week that the company will install kiosks in 1,000 restaurants.

McDonald’s already started experimenting with kiosks in restaurants last year. Professor Jacobson saw the kiosks last June at the McDonald’s in Amsterdam. They’ve also discussed allowing patrons to order food through the app and will experiment with curbside check-in.

In Florida, the company has already begun testing delivery service with UberEats. McDonald’s already enjoys a massive delivery service in Asia.

The company will also try to reign in new and old customers with a new menu:

[McDonald’s USA President Chris] Kempczinski disclosed that McDonald’s test of its “Signature Sandwiches” — customizable and more upscale burgers and chicken sandwiches — will roll out later this year and investors can expect the company to step up its menu innovations in the U.S.

Last year, McDonald’s rolled out an all day breakfast menu. It recently debuted two new sizes of its famous Big Mac sandwich.

Tags: Culture, Economy, Food

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