Would you like to grap your fastfood without getting in touch with a person?
On December 22, 2022, a TikTok video of the first automated McDonald’s in Texas (see Picture) went viral. It shows that the smaller McDonald’s has no human contact staff and seating area. The full service of ordering in the drive-through is now made by using automated screens and can be picked up from a machine afterwards.
To avoid waiting in pick-up lines, when ordered online, an additional online order pick- up line is offered. With new technology, the consumer is recognized by the restaurant when he comes near the store and his order will be finished and provided shortly before he enters the online order pick-up line.
Inside the new McDonald’s building, a pick-up room remains for couriers to retrieve orders quickly. In addition, customers can also place their orders at the usual displays and receive them at the counter without personal contact (see Picture).
“The technology in this restaurant not only allows us to serve our customers in new, innovative ways, but it also gives our restaurant team the ability to concentrate more on order speed and accuracy, which makes the experience more enjoyable for everyone,” says Keith Vanecek, the franchise owner of the automated McDonald’s. This seems to be the main reason for the new McDonald’s testing.
Aren’t there any other arguments for why it also makes sense to open an automated shop?
Maybe the American dining routine is slightly different from the European, as they go to restaurants to have dinner and not to enjoy the company of each other and be seated for hours. This could have led to the decision of the new model, as seating is less frequently used than take-away.
Also, Covid-19 changed the behavior of the people. During the pandemic, dining inside the restaurant was forbidden. This led to more use of the drive-thru. Furthermore, the number of orders placed by delivery services increased, which led to longer waiting times, as couriers are overloaded with orders. As online orders are only fulfilling the need for food, the expectations for product quality are raising.
A third possible argument for automation is staff shortage and problems finding staff nowadays.
So far, the internet is full of divided opinions on this topic. One part favors the new technology, as it can make their lives easier, more efficient, and more enjoyable. As fast food now gets even faster.
Those who are adverse claim that too many areas of life involve less face-to-face interaction and that this is the next step in further eliminating social interaction. Another negative aspect is the ongoing debate in Texas about wages. With the new automatization, the population of Texas is afraid that robots and automatization could be the way to suppress the increase of wages or could further eliminate all working places. But in this test run, there is no need to be afraid of working places as a McDonald’s speaker said, the test restaurant still has a staff team the size of any other restaurant.
In my opinion, the automated McDonald’s restaurant could be the future approach, since focusing on better food preparation in the fast food area is a great advantage. The comfort, given by driving through the drive-through, and the speed offered by an automated McDonald’s can also be seen as an advantage. The transition to an automated food production is not far off. However, this might lead to fewer jobs. Whether the introduction of automated McDonald’s stores will prevail remains to be seen in the coming years.
Ann-Kathrin Stolze
Sources:
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/dec/23/mcdonalds-automated-workers fort-worth-texas
Video source:
Picture sources:
https://bigthink.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/image.jpeg?resize=1024,576
https://heise.cloudimg.io/v7/_www-heise-de_/imgs/18/3/6/7/0/5/1/3/mcd- 06626fccc34de25a.jpeg?force_format=avif%2Cwebp%2Cjpeg&org_if_sml=1&q=70& width=1220
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