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McDonald's Technology

McDonald’s bets on faster food with digital ordering and table service

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By John Glenday, Reporter

November 18, 2016 | 2 min read

McDonald’s is shaking up all 14,000 of its American restaurants with a faster food service that will allow customers to order their burgers, shakes and fries from a digital touch-screen instead of queuing for service.

After the order is processed, food will be delivered to the consumer's table.

The shake-up was ordered by chief executive Steve Easterbrook who demonstrated the new system in New York by walking up to a freshly installed digital screen to make an order, once paid for customers can take their seat with a digital location pinger so staff can staff can unite the order with its owner.

Easterbrook said: “Typically, the majority of our crew is behind the counter, and that counter literally has been a barrier between our crew and the customer. We’ve not cutting crew; we’re redeploying them.”

Technophobes will still have the option to queue the traditional way but it is hoped that the solution will keep customers coming back for more by giving them a comfy seat whilst they await their food.

Drive-through customers, who account for up to 70% of the company's sales, will be unaffected by the move.

The hi-tech system is already available in 2,600 McDonald’s restaurants worldwide - principally Australia, Britain and Canada where around a quarter of transactions now occur on in-store screens.

An enthusiastic adopter of new technology McDonald's recently sought to entice footfall by giving away children's activity trackers and installed tablets in-store.

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