Barcelona | In Europe, too, more and more guests are using the McDonalds app or delivery services such as Uber Eats. As guests are not coming to the restaurant themselves anymore, logistics processes in and around restaurants need to be adjusted. Often dozens of delivery service drivers waiting with their bikes in front of and in the restaurant for pickup taking away precious space. McDonald’s has reacted and is now informing delivery service drivers with screens in the shop window.
So far, QSR chains have used four different digital signage concepts in their restaurants: order kiosk, menu boards, pick-up screens and drive-thru. A fifth digital signage touchpoint concept could now follow: the delivery screen. In city restaurants in particular, drivers from delivery service partners are increasingly queuing up with their colorful jackets and backpacks to wait for the order to be completed.
For guests in the restaurant, this has a negative impact on the experience of visiting the restaurant. Drivers block the waiting areas and disrupt the finely balanced flow in the restaurant from the order kiosk to the pickup. New restaurants will have separate entrances/pickup windows for delivery services. But in existing restaurants McDonald’s is testing dedicated waiting areas in front of the restaurant. Separate delivery screens are used to inform delivery service drivers about the status of the order.
The number of displays in McDonald’s restaurants is constantly increasing. Including the back-of-house (kitchen, etc.), there are a few dozen screens per branch. From small to large format, from touch to high brightness.