24/7 Insights

• McDonald’s kiosks have helped streamline the order process. 
• Over 130,000 kiosks have already been rolled out worldwide. 
• The kiosks have boosted sales by 11%. 
• Also: 2 Dividend Legends to Hold Forever

As the world’s most popular fast food company, McDonald’s has long been a pioneer in innovation. Since its first restaurant, the company has been finding new ways to serve customers better. For this reason, McDonald’s has added self-ordering kiosks to its tens of thousands of locations. 

McDonald’s believes the rollout of these self-service options will help reduce labor costs and streamline the order process. Somewhat unsurprisingly, it has also affected customer service and restaurant efficiency. Self-ordering kiosks aside, McDonald’s remains as popular with customers as ever thanks to its reliable and quality offerings. 

Why Did McDonald’s Roll Out Self-Service Kiosks? 

McDonald’s had long considered rolling out self-service kiosks for many reasons. First and foremost, it is likely that by taking employees away from the register, their labor can be transferred to other responsibilities like handing off pickup orders, food preparation, and keeping the restaurant cleaner for customers. 

While there was a concern that the self-service kiosks would reduce the need for an overall number of employees, this hasn’t been the case. Instead, franchise owners are seeing sales numbers jump because the kiosks can allocate employee time toward other tasks that ensure overall customer happiness. 

With self-service kiosks ensuring customer orders flow smoothly, customers do not get frustrated and walk out, which they might do if they walk in and see a long line standing in front of a register. 

Boosting Overall Sales

Perhaps the best news for McDonald’s is its sales numbers. McDonald’s had initially predicted a 5-6% increase in sales per order after rolling out the kiosks, which translates to hundreds of millions in additional revenue. However, McDonald’s projections were on the low end, as analysts estimate orders are 11% larger when using the self-service kiosk.

Are Self-Service Kiosks Popular With Customers? 

When it comes to popularity, the 130,000-plus units that McDonald’s has rolled out appear to have increased order size by around 30%. With plans to increase this number to over 700,000 units by the end of 2028, it’s clear that, popular or not, this is the future McDonald’s is looking to achieve. 

Overall, research indicates that customers are 65% more likely to eat at a restaurant if a self-service kiosk will help expedite ordering. A large portion of this is undoubtedly due to convenience, which still comes in handy even in a fast-food restaurant environment. Instead of getting stuck behind someone who doesn’t know what they want to eat, you can order at the kiosk quickly and avoid any errors that might take place while verbally ordering. 

That said, it’s unlikely the kiosks have found any popularity with a less tech-savvy crowd. Unfortunately, the shift to self-service is likely less popular for this group, which is less comfortable with this technology. Still, even though this crowd doesn’t fancy the kiosks, it hasn’t affected McDonald’s stock price, which is up 26% since the kiosks were first rolled out in 2017. 

All of this said, there have been some frustrations, like some of the kiosks being unable to take cash. As the cost of McDonald’s meals is often low for a single person, many customers prefer to pay using cash. Being unable to use cash to complete a transaction has led to thousands of social media complaints from frustrated customers and employees. 

Employee Reaction Is Mixed

From the outside perspective, overall satisfaction with the self-service kiosks appears to be strongly positive for customers. Even the detractors of self-service kiosks are not indicating en masse that it will keep them away from their favorite fast-food meal. 

However, McDonald’s employees’ reactions continue to be more mixed. On the one hand, it has helped reduce the pressure that can build when too many customers are in line. Alternatively, employees fear that installing more kiosks reduces overall job security. So, on the one hand, the kiosks allow employees to practice different skills while simultaneously making them fearful for their jobs. 

Ultimately, it seems clear McDonald’s franchise owners have some work to do to ensure employees feel less nervous. Another consideration is that if a kiosk has a technical problem, it can create a stressful situation for employees that causes backups in lines. Needless to say, the introduction of kiosks has been overwhelmingly successful but not problem-free. 

 

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