McDonald's USA in tech push plans self-serve kiosks, mobile ordering

Reuters reports:

McDonald's, aiming to become more modern and nimble, is updating U.S. restaurants with self-service kiosk ordering, mobile payments, "smart" menu boards, custom sandwiches and table service, executives said on Thursday.

The 61-year-old fast-food company has been overhauling its food with simpler ingredients and selling breakfast items 24-hours a day, but it is playing catch up in the technology realm to early adopters such as Domino's Pizza, Starbucks Corp and Panera Bread.

About 500 of McDonald's more than 14,000 U.S. restaurants have made the changes with Florida, New York and Southern California the first regions to adopt the new format.


Restaurants in San Francisco, Boston, Chicago and Seattle will start making the switch next year, according to the company, which declined to give a timeline for how long the changes will take to go nationwide.

McDonald's will pilot mobile ordering in the United States in the first half of 2017 and do a national rollout in the second half, Chris Kempczinski, a former Kraft Foods executive who will take over as McDonald's USA president on Jan. 1, told journalists at a press event in New York. Mobile ordering and payment will be added to the McDonald's app, which has been downloaded by 16 million people, he said.

No $15 an hour minimum wage for you!