Soon, you could walk into a McDonald’s, sit down, maybe play a video game for a few minutes, then have your food brought to you.
At least that’s the vision of Atif Rafiq, the first chief digital officer at McDonald’s, for how the company’s stores could evolve by 2020.
At the McDonald’s of tomorrow, restaurants will have a standardized set of hardware and software that the company has been developing through its global digital team. That hardware would include kiosks similar or identical to those already on the market. You could walk up, tap your phone to it, and sync your account via an app. From there, the screen would not just show a stock menu, but provide your order history, and offer Amazon-like recommendations.
During that two- to-three minute wait for your meal, McDonald’s could offer all sorts of entertainment at your seat—like the Happy Table, a concept that turns your dining table into a gaming platform.
Eventually the food arrives, then 10 minutes later when you’re actually done with your burger, a glance at the McDonald’s app will have a set of new recommendations: desserts. With a tap, you place your order and wait for it to be delivered, too.
