McD appy meals
Mobile order and pay coming soon
McDonald’s, which revolutionized the drive-thru in the seventies, announced a new initiative on Wednesday that could kill it.
The hamburger chain said that before the end of 2017, customers will be able to order a Big Mac and fries via a mobile app — and have it delivered to their car curbside.
The new service is aimed as wooing back customers. In the US in 2016, customer traffic fell 2.1 percent, the company said in a regulatory filing, and customer traffic has been down for almost four years.
“To deliver sustained growth, we have to attract more customers, more often,” Chief Executive Steve Easterbrook said in a statement.
Customers can also pick up orders made via the app in-store or at the drive-thru.
Back in the 1970s, McDonald’s introduced its first drive-thru — and it quickly caught on across the country. Today, drivethrus account for 70 per- cent of fast-food sales.
But McDonald’s has been woefully behind in adapting to the digital economy, with Starbucks, Chick-fil-A, Dunkin’ Donuts and others standing leaps ahead with their app technology.
“McDonald’s needs to thin out the congestion in its drive-thrus,” said John Gordon, principal of Pacific Management Consulting Group.
Mobile order and pay will launch in 20,000 restaurants around the world by the end of 2017, the company said. It comes on the heels of another tech initiative begun last year installing ordering kiosks in its stores.
McDonald’s is also ramping up delivery services in the US — already a $1 billion business abroad in countries like China and South Korea.
The company said it is “experimenting with different delivery models, including partnering with third parties.”
McDonald’s shares closed up 1.1 percent on Wednesday, to $129.05.