NEW YORK – Business Insider reports that McDonald’s is catching up to its fast-food competition through mobile, writing: “McDonald's is finally gearing up to launch mobile order-and-pay technology, meaning customers will be able to order and pay for their food from their smartphones.”
The news source notes that McDonald’s mobile enhancements will begin rolling out next year in the United States and international markets such as Australia, Canada, France and the United Kingdom, according to Becca Hary, a spokesperson for the QSR. By 2018, mobile pay and ordering could be available in about 25,000 restaurants worldwide.
Business Insider notes that in July 2015, McDonald's CEO Steve Easterbrook talked about mobile ordering and the ability for customers to place orders for pick-up. Earlier this year the QSR began testing mobile ordering at 22 locations in Columbus, Georgia, and later ended the test, reported Ad Age.
While the mobile pay and order feature is new for McDonald's, some industry experts say the chain has missed a huge opportunity that chains such as Starbucks and Chick-fil-A have capitalized on.
"This isn’t new technology, it’s something that should be fairly standard nowadays," Neil Saunders, CEO of retail consulting firm Conlumino, told the news source.
Starbucks launched its mobile order-and-pay program one year ago, and Business Insider notes that about 25% of Starbucks customers now use the company's app to pay for their orders, while 1 in 20 customers use it to order ahead.
Chick-fil-A's mobile order-and-pay app has seen similar success, even hitting the top three on Apple’s iTunes app when it first launched in June. The news source notes that more than 8 million people have downloaded the Chick-fil-A One app, which remembers customer orders and tailors rewards to their buying habits.
For McDonald's, reducing customer wait times and improving order accuracy is a main focus of the QSR’s turnaround.
"This would be helpful to the company at a time when wage pressures are becoming a heavier burden on the cost line," Saunders told the news source. "It would also give McDonald’s an opportunity to track consumer behavior and buying patterns and stimulate spending with offers and deals."