McDonald’s faceless future of fast food dining
McDonald’s has recently identified through a series of projects that the future of fast food dining, and indeed their business, is speed! Through a new initiative called ‘Experience of the Future’ or EOTF, the program will see self ordering kiosks and other digital advances added to well over 1,000 stores per quarter. “That’s like modernising all the stores in Australia, but every quarter!” Says McDonald’s CEO Steve Easterbook.
This aggressive strategy will see human interaction and errors minimised, thus increasing speed.
Easterbook calls it “one of the most significant transformations in our history”. Indeed, the changes being implemented at this rate will see the company future proofing itself for years to come with a truly automated system.
It’s important to note, this initiative is targeted at it’s trusted American market, but expect the changes to hit closer to home in the coming years. It must be said, that many of these changes have already been introduced in the UK. Many of the McDonald’s drive-through’s now have dual lanes and external digital screens with a human voice ready to take your order and get you through quicker. Contactless payment is in action in all stores already and another humanoid is ready to hand you your ready packed food order at the end of the drive-through lane.
Accessibility is also an area McDonald’s hope to claim back some of their lost customer base and ramp up their casual customers. Again technology is being used to entice these customers from as many different angles as possible. Mobile ordering, delivery service and self pick ups are just some simple initiatives that can be implemented right now.
The new modern system has also seen a rise in meal upgrades. The thinking being that customers don’t feel ‘judged’ by their human staff member for upsizing.
McDonald’s are thinking big, bigger than big even. And they may well have something with their latest strategy for the future. What do customers want? Speed, accuracy, accessibility…yes to all those. But what about quality, variety, and how about their post purchase feeling? That flirting smile from the attractive McDonald’s employee when she hands you your order, the quip about the terrible sunshine we’ll have this summer, and the free coffee stamp sticker in your reward card when you look like you’ve had a bad day…don’t these values mean more to a customer than 30 seconds saved, or the fact that you’ve had to go back to the cashier to reluctantly hand over your BigMac with mayo when you’ve wanted it without…
Source: Design Taxi
Images from Shutterstock
