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McDonald's hoping tech upgrades will level playing field with fast casuals

After a successful pilot of the chain’s "JustForYou experience" at 500 revamped U.S. restaurants in New York, Florida and Southern California, McDonald's has deployed it in another 2,000 restaurants and will soon add it to locations in Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Seattle, Boston and Chicago.

November 21, 2016 by Cherryh Cansler — Editor, FastCasual.com

McDonald’s, which over the past few years has been losing market share to fast casual brands, is ready to play ball. Although it's gotten a few base hits this year, with all-day breakfast, using only cage-free eggs and decluttering the menu, the QSR giant again has stepped up its game by investing in technology in order to keep customers, especially millennials, happy. It announced last weekthat it’s JustForYou initiative, which includes adding self-serve order stations and table delivery, will eventually be in units across the entire U.S.

After a successful pilot of the chain’s "JustForYou experience" at 500 revamped U.S. restaurants in New York, Florida and Southern California, McDonald's has deployed it in another 2,000 restaurants and will soon add it to locations in Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Seattle, Boston and Chicago, according to QSRWeb. 

There isn't a specific deadline for all units to add the upgrades, considering that most locations are franchisee-owned and that costs of the new system falls on franchisees, according to McDonald's. Customers, however, can check out the new format by immersing themselves into a full virtual reality experience offered on the JustForYou site.

The initiative also includes an upgrade to the McDonald's app, which has been downloaded by 16 million people. It will pilot mobile ordering and payment in the United States in the first half of 2017, and do a national rollout in the second half, according to KioskMarketplace.com. 

Panera Bread rolled out a similar initiative — Panera 2.0 — a few years ago and has enjoyed increases in traffic and profitability. Time will tell if McDonald's will enjoy a similar result. 

About Cherryh Cansler

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Cherryh Cansler is VP of Events for Networld Media Group and publisher of FastCasual.com. She has been covering the restaurant industry since 2012. Her byline has appeared in Forbes, The Kansas City Star and American Fitness magazine, among many others.

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