Ordering Kiosks at McDonald's
Dec. 5th, 2021 02:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerYesterday I did something I haven't done in over 2 years. I went inside a McDonald's to eat. Oh, I've bought food at their drive-thru occasionally. That McRib I tried for the first time 12 months ago didn't just magically appear on a plate in my dining room, after all. And I've had drive-thru food at least twice more since then— though not McRibs. They just came back after dropping off the menu for 11 months but they aren't that good. Anyway, McRibs— or even any other McDonald's foods— aren't what I'm here to write about today. I'm writing about ordering at McDonald's.
McDonald's has shifted from having traditional cashiers take orders to having customers enter their own orders through self-service kiosks. I don't know how widely that's been rolled out everywhere, but started appearing at the McD's restaurants in my area 2 years ago, and I saw it in a few other areas a few years before that.
A lot of people might say, "Ooh, self service ordering. That's so much easier!" Except it's not. Self-service ordering took much longer than ordering from a cashier.
My order at McDonald's could have been about as short as this:
...That's with a traditional, human order-taker. With the self-serve kiosk it went like this:
It took me about 5 times as long as ordering used to. And that's supposed to be an improvement? ...Well, it kind of is because McDonald's ability to hire and train people capable of taking orders and getting them correct went markedly down hill several years ago. But still, using the kiosk took about twice as long as repeating my order 3x to a marginally employable cashier.
Of course, the point of these kiosks isn't improving thingst for me, the customer. It's an improvement for the store's operational cost. The kiosks allow them to employ fewer people. Even at minimum wage that adds up. Minimum wage in Mountain View is currently $16.30, rising to $17.10 January 1. The kiosks are an example of what we get when minimum wages rise and the cost of automation technology drops.
McDonald's has shifted from having traditional cashiers take orders to having customers enter their own orders through self-service kiosks. I don't know how widely that's been rolled out everywhere, but started appearing at the McD's restaurants in my area 2 years ago, and I saw it in a few other areas a few years before that.
A lot of people might say, "Ooh, self service ordering. That's so much easier!" Except it's not. Self-service ordering took much longer than ordering from a cashier.
My order at McDonald's could have been about as short as this:
"Two McDoubles... no pickle... medium fries... and a medium Diet Coke. For here." Then I pay.
...That's with a traditional, human order-taker. With the self-serve kiosk it went like this:
I want 2 McDoubles. They're under "sandwiches". Okay, press for 1. Press again for 2. Save. Keep ordering. Hmm, I want no pickles. Okay, "Modify order". No, not that. Back. Okay, "Customize order." No pickles. Save. No, not "Light pickles". Customize order. Reduce pickles. Save. No, I want both without pickles. Customize order. Press "-" next to "Pickles" twice. Save. Order more. Fries. Medium Fries. Save. Order more. Drinks. Medium drink. Diet Coke. Save. Complete order. For here. Grab table tent. Enter number 17 from table tent. Pay now. Pay with credit card. Tap credit card. Didn't work; tap credit card again. Still didn't work. Put credit card away, pull out my other card, tap. No receipt. Okay, I'll go sit down.
It took me about 5 times as long as ordering used to. And that's supposed to be an improvement? ...Well, it kind of is because McDonald's ability to hire and train people capable of taking orders and getting them correct went markedly down hill several years ago. But still, using the kiosk took about twice as long as repeating my order 3x to a marginally employable cashier.
Of course, the point of these kiosks isn't improving thingst for me, the customer. It's an improvement for the store's operational cost. The kiosks allow them to employ fewer people. Even at minimum wage that adds up. Minimum wage in Mountain View is currently $16.30, rising to $17.10 January 1. The kiosks are an example of what we get when minimum wages rise and the cost of automation technology drops.
