More McDonald's: Goodbye Cashiers?
A quick McD's update to the update ...
It’s interesting (and unexpected) to have new McDonald’s experiences this late in life — bravo to the Golden Arches for not “standing still.”
My last post explored the ways in which McD’s has unexpectedly evolved into a public space that is very much contrary to the “drive-thru” advantages it promoted when I was growing up (and when I worked there, pre-college). The old ideal was “how quickly can I get in, out, or thru.” Now, people hang around to shoot the breeze with friends and get free coffee refills from a roaming host/hostess.
Still, there remains great value in the ability to “grab and go.” I was extremely proud of myself recently because I figured out how to use the McDonald’s app to accomplish an advance-order “pickup”; they made it irresistible by offering a “buy one-get one” freebie that actually made sense (if you order a burger, you get the fries free, for instance; not the gluttonous “buy one Quarter Pounder and get one free”).
The Pickup option lets you order and pay on the McDonald’s app, and you simply walk in the lobby and look for the bag labelled with your name on a “pickup table.” No drive-thru line, and you’ve already paid.
Forget the Counter
CNN has taken note of the self-serve angle via McDonald’s “ordering kiosks,” which, you might quickly surmise, are taking away employment opportunities, right?
Wrong.
From the CNN report:
Today, instead of replacing workers, companies deploy kiosks to transfer labor to other tasks like handing off pickup orders, help increase sales, easily adjust prices and speed up service. (Many chains, including Subway, Chick-fil-A and Starbucks, don’t use them much or at all.)
McD’s is not alone; in the same report, Shake Shack CEO Robert Lynch notes that kiosks “shift employees from behind the cash register to maintaining the dining area, delivering food to customers or working in the kitchen.”
Theses kiosks are not always a sure thing, however.
And in some cases, kiosks have even been a flop. Bowling ally chain Bowlero added kiosks in lanes for customers to order food and drinks, but they went unused because staff and customers weren’t fully trained on using them.
I’m certainly “not fully trained,” but after years away from the Arches (I live in the land of Culver’s!) I suddenly enjoy the occasional Quarter Pounder.
Now — whatever became of that clown named Ronald….?
1/13/25 UPDATE to the UPDATE: It looks like Starbucks has decided to close the door entirely on the “community gathering space” aspect of their business as Hanging out at Starbucks will cost you as company reverses its open-door policy.