McDonald's is starting to fundamentally rethink business processes under pressure from the pandemic.
McDonald's is starting to fundamentally rethink many business processes under the pressure of the pandemic. The usual things that have been at the heart of the fast food giant's strategy over the past years have required changes. And the company is ready to change towards the future: CEO McDonald's Chris Kempchinski said that the company's new long-term growth strategy will rely more on machine learning and mobile software than on the development of new burger recipes.
Thus, McDonald's, which closed the acquisition deal in 2019 Dynamic Yield for $300 million, aims to be a high-tech company and possibly a leader in the use of new technologies in its segment, writes Wired.
The pandemic has undeniably accelerated the introduction of new processes into the McDonald's business: in the company's main market in the United States, 97% of all physical restaurants were closed in the spring at the height of the first wave of the virus. Restrictions on serving guests led to the fact that 70% company sales were provided through the drive-thru format (“MakAvto”).
Thus, in a rapidly changing market, the work of the drive-thru service has become one of the key for McDonald's. The company was able to reduce the average service time by an average of 30 seconds, and today they are striving for even faster order fulfillment. In some restaurants, McDonald's is already using a voice assistant from Apprente, a startup acquired in the fall of 2019, to order. But the concepts McDonald's is currently exploring involve more radical changes in service.
Among them is the use of allocated parking spaces for taking orders. As well as drive-thru points that work exclusively for the issuance of online orders using a conveyor belt. The company is also considering the possibility of creating concept stores with a limited number of seats and even without them at all. Such restaurants can be a kitchen in the middle of the roadway or surrounded by a parking lot. The second big part of McDonald's business transformation program is the launch of its own loyalty program. Already in 2021, it will see the light of day and will be widely tested in the six main markets where McDonald's operates. The network's customers will receive individual offers and exchange earned points for new dishes and drinks. According to some reports, this may be a program similar to the popular Starbucks Rewards system.
