CASE STUDY: MCDONALD’S

One of the world’s most recognised and loved dining brands, McDonald’s serves over 4 million customers in the UK every single day. As a result, the company has a long and successful track record of adopting technology to make their restaurants more efficient and improve the customer dining experience.

Our work with McDonald’s started in 2015 when, as part of the Experience of the Future project, they began the journey of rolling out self-service kiosks to restaurants across the UK. We worked closely with the McDonalds team to develop a bespoke self-service kiosk solution that needed to be completely intuitive to use from the moment a customer walked in the restaurant.

The self-service kiosks, which are now found across most of their UK locations, allowed them to completely transform the customer experience and significantly decrease waiting times while, at the same time, increasing the number of orders their restaurants could process. Driving customers to the self-service kiosks additionally allowed them to re-deploy staff from behind the counter, open up the restaurant space and dramatically reduce the amount of cash handled on-site as customers naturally moved to card and contactless payments.

The introduction of self-service kiosks for diners allowed the company to completely re-think how their restaurants were laid out and how their staff were being used. If customers were not only able, but preferred to serve themselves, then restaurants could dramatically reduce the space taken up by counters and transfer their crew from behind a screen into customer-facing roles.

 

Staff are now much more mobile, helping customers with queries, keeping the restaurants looking at their best and even offering table service. The latter may not seem revolutionary, but it has dramatically improved the dining experience for customers with young families or those that need special care. Now, instead of attempting to stand in line and keep one eye on their table, their order can be placed quickly and simply and then a seat taken while their food is prepared and delivered!

 

Constant in-restaurant innovation

 

Following the successful roll-out of the free-standing kiosks to restaurants across the UK, in 2019, we developed the concept further into a small new format, wall-mounted version for their pilot McDonald’s To Go concept restaurant. This new format ‘grab and go’ take-away only restaurant was designed to further decrease waiting times and allow city workers, commuters and students to order and receive their food as quickly as possible.

 

The new wall-mounted kiosks have a smaller screen and overall footprint, which was critical in allowing McDonald’s to deliver this novel restaurant format in what are typically much smaller spaces.

 

 

 

Transforming the drive-thru experience

 

McDonald’s’ digital transformation isn’t limited to the in-restaurant experience. With many of their restaurants seeing upwards of 50% of sales through their drive-thru lanes, technology has an increasingly important part to play in the customer experience across the site.

 

Together with high-contrast dynamic digital signage that convey menu choices to customers, we have also developed and installed over 2,000 bespoke listening posts, which dramatically improve the clarity of sound in both directions – helping to improve order accuracy and therefore significantly reduce wait times.

 

Creating a unique restaurant experience

 

The combination of in-restaurant self-service and drive thru is critical in driving efficiencies across the McDonald’s business, but the dining experience remains an important part of the overall strategy. Although a ‘quick’ service restaurant by nature, customers are encouraged to engage with technology and spend more time in the restaurant.

 

The ‘magic table’ and ‘magic floor’ concepts are great examples of this innovation, allowing diners to interact with their table or the floor while their food is being ordered. Previously blank surfaces are transformed into digital canvases, with video content, images and even fully interactive games projected from above. It’s a great example of how McDonald’s are committed to using technology to enhance the dining experience and gives us the chance to constantly demonstrate our innovation.

 

 

A partnership approach

 

Over the last five years we have installed over 6,700 digital devices into McDonald’s sites across the UK, Ireland and now worldwide. Our success is based on a having a collaborative, partnership approach to tackling the project; we adapt with McDonald’s as their business evolves and we quickly tailor our solutions to their requirements, enabling them to achieve their goals of delivering higher quality products, faster and fresher.

 

Our digital solutions have enabled McDonald’s to meet, and often exceed, customer demand in their restaurants while increasing the number of transactions across the board.

The Experience of the Future initiative has increased their average order value by 30% in the UK and Ireland, while the Liverpool Street Station McDonald’s To Go site now operates with the highest turnover of any location in Europe.

 

We’re delighted to have helped transform the McDonald’s customer journey and dining experience and look forward to continuing our work with the team in keeping them at the forefront of technology and innovation in the QSR market.