Streamlining Restaurant Digitization
Technological developments are moving faster and faster, and our 2024 forecasts predict even more digital implementation in the coming months. With Covid invigorating restaurant digitization and many restaurants integrating online menus and ordering, personalized digital marketing, and even individual apps, restaurant technology is now widely accepted as the norm. But with new concepts and technologies rolling out regularly, now owner-operators are inundated with options for digitization. In order to avoid confusion and maintain brand identity, restaurant businesses need to plan to streamline their digital offerings.
McDonald’s is doing just this, reports Nation’s Restaurant News (NRN), with a new initiative they’re calling “Digitizing the Arches.” The motivation behind the initiative is scale, explains CEO Chris Kempczinski, who sees the biggest opportunity for growth in the technology realm. “‘McDonald’s size and scale gives us competitive advantages that no one else can match. In our rapidly evolving industry, I believe the benefits of scale will become even more pronounced,’ he said, calling digital and technology ‘inherently a scale game’. ‘McDonald’s scale means we can build capabilities at a pace and cost no one in the industry can match,’” quoted NRN.
McDonald’s President Joe Erlinger agrees that there is opportunity in the digital sphere, in particular the chance to connect with customers. For example, last year, the company saw extreme growth in mobile ordering, with millions of mobile orders placed in Q3, and so, under Digitizing the Arches, special attention is being given to mobile order efficiency and user experience.
But in order to streamline, Digitizing the Arches is about more than just customer-facing technology. NRN writes, “As Brian Rice, global chief information officer, explained, the company is currently working to streamline its “fragmented” and “complex” digital experience and move everything to a consistent global platform – loyalty, mobile ordering, kiosks, web, etc” In essence, McDonald’s is moving to a digital brand, where the implemented technology is simply part of the entire McDonald’s experience.
In an organization as large as McDonald’s streamlining any operations makes sense. “All of this work fits into McDonald’s larger goal to continue digitizing more of its business. Currently, digital sales generate more than 40% of sales across its top six markets, or nearly $9 billion. In China, almost 90% of transactions are digital, providing a solid playbook as to what is possible,” says NRN. But from a business standpoint, restaurant businesses of any size must consider how their operations and customer-facing technologies fit into the modern restaurant experience and overall brand presentation.
“While the size and scale of the largest operations are globally demonstrating the effectiveness of digitizing, the independent and regional operator can also benefit from this trend,” notes Richard Weil, principal and owner of National Restaurant Consultants. “Realizing that digitizing is not ‘one size fits all,’ operators of all sizes can pick and choose what is right for their own specific needs and to meet the guests’ expectations.”
Working with our restaurant consultants is a great way to create a “big picture plan” with detailed implementation. Branding and technology integration are two pieces of how your restaurant business functions as a whole. Our consultants keep a finger on the pulse of the industry so that we can translate trends and concepts for any type and size of restaurant business. Work with our consultants to streamline your operations and digitization in a way that makes sense for your business and customer.