McDonald’s digital transformation is redefining fast food

McDonald’s digital transformation strategy is redefining fast food in the digital age with a focus on customer experience and digital innovation.

That’s according to Brian Rice, EVP and global chief information officer, who provided an update on the firm’s digital transformation progress this week. 

Rice called McDonald’s business transformation strategy, dubbed Digitizing the Arches, a “once-in-a-generation” initiative that’s redefining what it means to be a modern, connected brand. The investments McDonald’s is making will help accelerate growth, using the power of data to reshape how the company operates at every level of the business, he said.

McDonald’s digital transformation: The power of scale

“At McDonald’s, we’ve always believed in the power of scale, but in today’s world, scale alone isn’t enough to make an impact. What matters is how you use that scale,” Rice said. That’s where digital, and the work of teams across the McDonald’s business, comes in, he added.

“This isn’t just about upgrading our systems, we’re unleashing the full potential of McDonald’s iconic brand and global footprint to delight our customers.”

Upgrading the restaurant platform

Edge, McDonald’s advanced computing platform built in collaboration with Google, brings cloud capabilities directly into restaurants, Rice said. Already live in hundreds of US locations and rapidly expanding worldwide, Edge lays the groundwork for the next generation of restaurant innovation.

By enabling artificial intelligence (AI) and internet of things (IoT) technologies in kitchens, Edge helps create smarter, faster and more reliable operations, leading to greater uptime, improved food quality and a smoother experience for both customers and crew.

“In addition, we’re deploying AI-powered tech through Accuracy Scales. These scales compare target versus actual weight of outgoing orders and flag to the crew if anything is missing before the order reaches the customer.”

These have been deployed across thousands of restaurants in Drive Thru and Delivery channels in a dozen markets, with the company quickly expanding to more. “As a result, Accuracy Scales help ensure meals reach customers exactly as ordered – boosting trust, satisfaction and operational precision,” Rice said.

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Enhancing the customer platform

McDonald’s wants to keep customers coming back, so it is transforming how it engages with customers and loyal fans through tailored marketing offers.

“For the first time, US customers were able to redeem MyMcDonald’s reward points for a non-food digital experience: access to one month of Snapchat+ for just 1,500 points! By integrating digital lifestyle offerings into our consumer platform, we’re expanding what loyalty can mean –  moving beyond transactions to create deeper relevance and connection,” Rice said.

In the US, customers that join the MyMcDonald’s loyalty program more than double their visits in the first year after joining the program, according to Rice. “In Q2, we surpassed 185 million 90-day active loyalty users across 60 markets, which is well on our way to our goal of 250 million by 2027.”

McDonald’s is expanding its digital touchpoints so customers can access more feel-good moments when and where they want. “We are also deploying Ready on Arrival starting with our top markets,” Rice stated.

Ready on Arrival can reduce customer wait times by more than 50 percent thanks to geofencing technology that alerts the crew to begin preparing the customer’s order as they are approaching the restaurant. “For a brand that measures progress in tenths of seconds, this is proving to be transformative.”

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Modernizing the company platform

Finally, McDonald’s is modernizing how it works by replacing hundreds of legacy tools with modern, scalable platforms. “This year, we rolled out new systems across multiple markets to help our teams move faster, make smarter decisions and focus more time on business insights and running great restaurants,” Rice said.

Across finance and HR, the firm is retiring hundreds of legacy systems and consolidating into one cloud-based enterprise solution to drive efficiency and better integration.

“This is what transformation looks like at a company the size and scale of McDonald’s,” Rice said. “Our Digitizing the Arches strategy is about unlocking the full potential of our people, our restaurants and our brand. While we’re proud of the progress we’ve made, we’re even more excited about what’s ahead.”

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