McDonald’s is launching new digital kiosks that accept cash and dispense change.
The move follows the chain-wide rollout of self-service kiosks in 2020 that accepted credit card payments and required customers to pay with cash.
“These changes will enable franchisees to meet our customers’ increased desire for digital options while improving speed and accuracy,” a McDonald’s spokesperson told Food On Demand.
Could this potentially mean that the burger chain no longer needs human cashiers? McDonald’s stressed that the new technology will not lead to job cuts, but rather to employees being reassigned to other tasks.
Rising labor costs lead to automation
But with labor costs rising, more and more restaurant operators are turning to kiosks and other forms of automation.
McDonald’s franchisees may choose to introduce kiosks that accept cash.
Food tech companies told Food On Demand that the greatest demand for kiosks is in California, which currently has a $20 minimum wage.
“Kiosks are one of the hottest topics right now,” said Mike Whatley of the National Restaurant Association.
According to the National Restaurant Association, 51 percent of restaurant operators are investing in technology to increase service productivity, and that trend is expected to grow, with investments expected to reach 55 percent this year.
At the Golden Arches, franchisees can optionally set up kiosks that accept cash, but currently only about two percent have done so. Franchisees operate 95 percent of McDonald’s 14,300 U.S. stores, but customers can expect innovations in newly opened stores.
With the new design, the screens behind the register will focus on select items and prompt customers to order at the kiosk or via the mobile app. The full menu will not be displayed, but customers can still order at the register and request printed menus.
Digital orders, including those via the app, self-service kiosks and delivery service, accounted for more than 40 percent of McDonald’s sales in the third quarter of last year.
“We are leading the digital future,” said Chris Kempczinski, CEO of McDonald’s. “And we will continue to reinvent ourselves to meet our customers and restaurant teams where they are today and where they are going tomorrow.”
