McDonald’s UK ‘closely exploring’ click-and-collect as it looks to push digital innovation
McDonald’s UK says click-and-collect is an area it is “exploring very closely” as it looks to continue digital innovation as part of its mass personalisation and customer convenience strategy.
The restaurant could roll out mobile ordering and payment in the future as part of its “journey to improve” its already existing mobile app.
When asked if click-and-collect could be in the future of McDonald’s UK, Alistair Macrow, senior vice president and chief marketing officer of McDonald’s UK and Northern Europe, told Marketing Week: “Very much so. It’s an area we explore very closely.”
He adds: “If we can find ways of using the technology that people carry with them to help enhance their McDonald’s experience then that’s exactly what we’ll do. We’ll continue to innovate with our app and with our digital communications to help them get food in an easier way.”
McDonald’s UK launched its mobile app five years ago and has since seen 1.5 million downloads according to the brand. The app currently features a store locator, promotions, as well as meal and nutritional information.
Last year, McDonald’s ran a test trial of mobile click-and-collect in the US, which allowed customers to pick up food in stores or at the drive through.
Further, in November the company announced plans to launch a global mobile app, which will offer promotions and payments, as part of its mass personalisation strategy, having piloted a mobile coupon app in Amsterdam in 2013.
If McDonald’s UK does roll out click-and-collect, it would be following in the footsteps of KFC, Starbucks and Gourmet Burger Kitchen who have recently ramped up their mobile offerings through mobile ordering or payment services.
The company initially announced its plans to introduce mobile and web ordering last year as part of an effort to offer customers more ordering options as part of a wider personalisation strategy.
Further, following the launch of McDonald’s “Create Your Taste” platform in Australia, which allows customers to order via a digital kiosk and choose their bun, size of burger and ingredients, the company announced plans to push the marketing platform as a global initiative to drive customer engagement not only through digital kiosks but also through table service and mobile ordering.
While Macrow says Create Your Taste is still in a pilot phase and has not reached the UK, he says the company is exploring giving customers “the ability to customise our existing burgers by kiosk or at the counter” through a small-scale test, having already rolled out kiosks and iPads into over 100 of its UK restaurants.
