I had an opportunity to try out the new machine recently.
They have all these machine right at the entrance of the outlet, which customers will pass through even before they reach the counters. The idea is to let you place your order yourself without having to speak to a counter staff.
The whole process is simple and hassle-free. You just need to select eat-in or take-away and from the menu what you want to order based on the food categories. Say you want to order a Big Mac. You just select Burger from the food category. The screen will show you a list of burgers based on the meat patty. So you have beef, chicken and fish. Select beef and you will see a list of the different beef burgers they have (hamburger, cheeseburger, McDouble, etc). When you click on the Big Mac, you will be prompted with the options of ala carte or set meal.
I believe that you can choose to change the drinks and whether to upsize your set meal and all the combinations that a customer ever asked that McDonald's can think of (though I did not try it). Adding on other items and removing wrong items ordered are also fuss free.
Once you've confirmed everything, you'll be prompted for payment either by cash or card. If you pay by card, you will collect a payment slip with an order number and can proceed to the waiting area to wait for your order. For payment by cash, you'll need to queue at the counter to make payment. You will then be issued with a order number slip before proceeding to wait for your order.
This is a totally new way of ordering fast food for the industry. The idea behind it is not new. We've been doing it for a long time since e-commerce was born. But it is the first time the idea is being implemented in a physical environment instead of online.
The beauty about this self order kiosk is that it not only allows you to place order, it also allows you to customize your burger, something that McDonald's is not known for in the past.
McDonald's is well-known for its system for churning out an average burger in the most efficient and cost effective way. Its system is so idiot-proof that any person in any position can be easily replaced by another cos there is a manual that the person can follow that works all the times. Try ordering a hamburger without pickle in the past and you'll know how inflexible the system can be. It just doesn't allow for any variation. And so someone who doesn't eat pickle literally has to remove it herself.
Of course, things have improved and now you can order a hamburger without pickle.
With this new feature, customers can so called order a "gourmet burger" with premium ingredient like wagyu beef and according to their liking. Prices will depends on the types and number of fillings you choose.
Is this a counter measure for the tight labor market in Singapore? Did McDonald's develop it themselves? If not, did other fast food restaurants think of this idea as well? What's so special about this initiative and what can we learn from it?
1. These self ordering kiosks probably cost a lot in capital investment. It's not so simple as just putting in a few machines for customers to place their orders. It involves redesign of their whole operations. In fact, the outlet that I went to underwent a renovation of their counters and kitchen. Counters shrink from about 6 to 3. There is a pick up counter, a monitor to show the order number. The kitchen is reconfigured to accommodate customization of burger.
Staff work flow and duties tweaked so that they now bring food to the customers. The systems have to be integrated so that customers who pay by card will have their orders automatically sent to the kitchen for preparation, which then gets reflected on the monitor when order is ready for collection.
McDonald's strength lies in its size. With more than 100 outlets, they can achieve economies of scale. Ordering 100 or 200 of these kiosks will cost less per kiosk than ordering just one. They also have the mass in customers to ensure that these kiosks are used frequent enough to justify the investment.
When this new initiative was launched, they have their staff manning these kiosks to promote and encourage customers to try out and also to guide and teach them how to use it.
McDonald's know that no matter how easy a new technology is, there is always fear in trying out something new, especially in a public place where the stake of looking stupid is high. Old habits are hard to change. Without the encouragement, would customers even notice it, let alone trying it out without prompting? Will they have the misconception that the kiosks are for customized burger? Would customers feel stupid if they do not know how to start? Would customers feel lost if they make a wrong entry?
2. The kiosk is so easy to use. McDonald's has thought through all the possible steps in placing an order and also what mistakes customers are likely to make using the kiosk.
3. By replacing order counters with self ordering kiosks, McDonald's not only reduce the number of staff they require to man the counter, they also free up resources to be redeploy to other areas. There are fewer cases of staff keying in wrong order due to miscommunication and communication barrier. More importantly, with less requirement for manpower, they save costs and time on recruitment, training, scheduling and staff issues.
4. As mentioned, the new kiosk allows customers to order customized burger which are at a premium price. This means that the order size per customer increases for every customer who customizes.
5. For customers who order customized burger, food will be served to them at their seats. Instead of giving a number stand to customers, a beeper is given instead. Such beepers are used in other F&B businesses where customers are informed that their orders are ready for collection when the beeper sounds. So you must be wondering why is McDonald's using a beeper instead of a number stand? After all, a number stand makes it easier for staff to spot the customer when serving the meal. My guess is that since preparation of customized burger is still in its early stage, there will be a lot of teething problems. So for the start, the meals are sent to customers instead of getting them to collect themselves. But there will come a day when the whole process of customization becomes so efficient and seamless and integrate with the rest of the work flow nicely that customers do not have to wait long for their order to be ready. And that's when the beeper will be useful. Could it be McDonald's intention that in future, customers who order customized burger will have to collect their food themselves? Or perhaps they will continue to serve the food to the customers so that they can make justification for the price.