Just went to get a couple of meals and coffees from Maccas. No cashiers. I was told that at the end of the month all Maccas will be digital ordering only.
The staff member who was trying to help me was confused with the kiosk and how to order certain combinations, what hope have we got?
I work in technology yet I still want the faster ordering option placing an order with a person.
I ended up walking out, and saved myself from eating 1000 calories 😁
Eh, i wouldn't say that. I've seen a few McDonalds in london get upgrades to remove all registers and replace with all self serve and the experience as a customer is 100% better.
It used to be filled with people and you line up for 10 mins to order, and maybe some lines next to you progress faster than you and it was always horrible.
Now they put in a tonne of self serve. You simply order there and the area that used to have cashiers is now a mega area for pickup only orders. It works brilliantly and is much quicker. Instead of paying all these staff to take orders, you can put more staff on to prepare food quicker.
Gonna lose a lot of business.
Surprise surprise, old codgers on OzB can't handle change for the better.
Plastic bags anyone?
Hiding the lines has got to be one of the benefits of these things. As for cash, most people don't carry cash and putting something on a card is not a problem.
. No cashiers. I was told that at the end of the month all Maccas will be digital ordering only.
sounds like an accessibility problem, what if you're blind, you can't read the display and the ordering kiosks are all touchscreen, no braille and with no audio cues?
You'll still also need to employ people to deliver the meals to the customer's tables, take orders at the drive through and to clean up the mess left behind. So it's not possible to completely replace the front-line staff with kiosks just yet.
They may already think about using drone to deliver food to the table :)
They could just skip all the rigmarole and inject the fat directly into the customer's abdomen.
I don't think this is true
There is no denying that the November offerings were to encourage customers to use the app and kiosk but a cashier will definitely be required for the foreseeable future.
Source: friend is a maccas manager
I doubt it , places like shopping centers mcdonalds wont work without cashiers because it would take a big upgrade layout changes and they cant even make their monopoly game prizes digital redeem plus they would be getting rid of all the pensioners that order a couple bucks to get a free coffee .
Also the machines dont take cash - while cash sales are down you would turn away a ton of customers
Haven't used a cashier after installing the app, year or two ago. Will be a jarring transition but people will adapt like they use at the supermarket or lose calories going elsewhere like OP lol
Burgers are better at HJs anyway
Haven't used a cashier after installing the app
Too true. I would even prefer to avoid the kiosks if it means avoiding a queue. The app is great for skipping all that.
But I understand how this would alienate a lot of customers.
They would lose too much business from old people.
Might be a trial store, and they intend to remove them there by the end of the month. Given we have seen no advertising about this I doubt that will be "all McDonalds" stores.
I could see this as a "greeter" situation where people can order off the board, if they are confident, or get assistance from a floor walker when they want. Tie this in with "card only" machines and this could work out for a lot of people - same as the self service checkouts.
Very doubtful. Unlike China, Australia is not yet optimised to be a cashless society.
I would see this working in tandem with cashiers; not as a full replacement. If you go to the supermarkets a number of the checkouts are cardless and, at least one, of our favourite food places is completely card only. They won't accept cash at all.
makes sense - artificial service for artificial food
yeah, it has been years since I went into a McDonalds.
Our local just went 100% digital and I will avoid in future if possible. Not every one can easily use kiosks and give it a week or 2 and there will be less staff to help with ordering. People with disabilities, the aged and or with mental health issues will be the worse affected. But who cares right. Maccas will still continue to make a tidy profit without these people making the store look untidy. ( this is sarcasm btw *)
But who cares right. Maccas will still continue to make a tidy profit without these people making the store look untidy.
You say this sarcastically, but I don't exactly see Maccas as an essential service or necessity. I personally don't think it's a smart move, (and it might even be illegal due to disability access laws), but I'm not really seeing (much of) a moral or ethical issue here.
I believe this is going to happen soon.
I've noticed recently there have been more staff helping and trying to get customers to use the kiosks.
It will be like self-checkout at the supermarket where there is nearly always a staff member on hand to assist.
Hope the kiosks get better though. Made an order a couple days ago but got no receipt. Also one of the menu items was not listed on the kiosk and had to be ordered via a cashier.
Sounds like your store only. What happens are driveways? Automated message: "Welcome to McDonalds, we are in the process of removing all human being employees, all purchases must be made with the McDonald's App or instore self-service kiosks. Thank you for your cooperation, this message will repeat".
Not much will change actually.
Drive-thru will be the same.
There will be employees assisting at the self-service kiosks.
I read so many articles saying the kiosks will be replacing humans, but I still see so many attendants and staff there.
The barrier is that the kiosks dont take cash, only card. This creates a need for a human to be up at the cash register taking coins and notes and dispensing change.
They also need humans there to answer dumb questions about menu items like "how much is a 50c cone?"
There's also a lot of incompetent people who can't design reliable, responsive and easy to use kiosks. Then there are even more who simply don't understand technology or cannot mentally grasp the concept of a touch-screen menu.
The first time I went to japan 15+ years ago, they had a coin operated vending machine with food menu items. You basically pressed a button to select your dish, put money in and a ticket was printed out that you gave to the chef. The chef was the only employee in the restaurant. It was really simple shit and I couldn't imagine that working Australia because of the lack of intelligence with technology we have here.
I guess you could say that due to bad design of the UI & hardware and/or the amount of idiots there are, humans at the counter cannot be replaced for a long long time.
Also, I don't want to use the kiosks anyway because people smear shit on it https://metro.co.uk/2018/11/28/poo-found-on-every-mcdonalds-…
As I said previously there will be staff assisting at the kiosks. They will even do the order for you if you can't do it yourself.
Don't read the tabloids. There is no shit on the screens, just the same bacteria you find in a million other places as you go about your day.
Wtf you still get 50c cones? I thought they upped the price?
I still remember the days of 30c soft serves.
Yeah in some places in Vic.
There's a mcdonalds near me that still does 50 cent cones. It's the only one I know of.
Go Drive Thru
Tesla only.
I will take anyone's bet that this isn't going to happen.
Definitely can see some locations - but I will wager my house that McDonalds is not removing FOH staff across the board.
It will definitely happen over time and sooner than you think. Train stations have closed cashier stations. Toll booths are replaced with scanners. Times are changing. Eventually even the production of burgers will be done by robots. It's not far off at all.
I went to a store a few months ago and went to the cashier, but was directed to their machines. I didn't really like it, but used it. The next time, there were problems and I had to go back to the cashier anyway.
I'm okay with having a mixture of both, but they can't rely on machines only. Our store recently had none of the machines working properly, and when you order to eat in, they rarely have the place holders anywhere to be found, so you can't sit down and wait for them to deliver to your table, which is sort of the whole reason for using the machine - make your order, find a spot and wait.
I prefer ordering digitally, especially when I have my kids and wife with me. They take so long to make a decision and then change their mind 100 times, I'd prefer to be standing at a screen than wasting the cashiers time.
A better option is to make using the cashier a really shit exp (like allow the queue to be so long you end up waiting 20min to order) so ppl will naturally start using the kiosks since they'll be empty.
Exactly.I actively avoid using public touchscreens. People are disgusting.
I actively avoid going out in public. People are disgusting.
I use the Xpress App as much as possible with KFC. It saves so much time. Unfortunately you cannot specify pieces. I guess it's progress, but what about the cash only pensioner that walks in.
If they represent bang for buck then McDonalds will cater for them. Given the food they are serving do you really think they have the customers best interests at heart?
I agree. Overrated and Over-priced!
McDonalds is not going digital only next month, this is just a click bait post
nope. there will always be cashiers. elderly, disabled, kids that cant reach, the millions of complainers and whingers out there…. so so many reasons why there will always be cashiers.
I personally prefer digital as it's usually quicker and have found that at McDonald's. They will have 1 person to roam like they do at Bunnings, Woolworths, etc. Over time people will get used to it and it will be second nature for everyone. I love ordering on the KFC app and not having to wait in line. The people that haven't made their mind up is so frustrating. At least with everything digital that won't happen.
But where will all the spotty-faced 14 year olds get their first ever work experience??
And who will the ice addicts beat up at 2am now?
I don’t like this. I need to be able to get 2 4 1 coffees on my Entertainment Book digital app which I have been using for 6 months without having it marked as ‘redeemed’
I just checked mine and I don't even have a coffee vocuher for McDonald's??
PS are you using a reusable coffee cup?
So, soon they will replace cashiers, then maybe cooking staff by machines, then eventually replace customers with battery charged robots and move from human food to selling recharges to them.? uh! Progress?
OPs claim seems unlikely.
I'm fine with it in principle but they would need to improve the reliability of the kiosks and app.
I'm more concerned regarding wait times due to the switch to 'made for you'.
That's what I thought, but I checked the Maccas thread on Whirlpool and another person mentioned they encountered it a few days prior.
In busy stores they come you you in the line to take your order. They'll probably end up with more staff hanging around the kiosks to assist.
They started the push to the kiosks by replacing menu boards with ads that keep flashing to different stuff making it impossible to decide what you want at the counter.
Its the way of the future for all bricks and mortar retail, not just McDonalds.
Employees are expensive and make demands (safe working conditions, pay rises, etc), whereas robots/computers are cheap, can work 24/7 and never complain.
Your choice, go elsewhere.
Its only fast food not the end of the world.
Looks a lot like more cost cutting to fatten their profits. Pity nothing comes back to the customer though.
Self serves are great, but keep maybe 1 cashier still? Some offers can't be redeemed via app.
Worked at maccas for a lovely 7.5 years.
I don't think it's a good idea. Some stores I walk into and there are kiosks free and a few people in line to be served.
Some people are quite particular about their food and the kiosks don't have every option available.
Maybe this is a good idea in 50 years when everybody knows how to work a computer, but for now it's not a smart thing to do business wise.
Or maybe they should add all options to the kiosk and have 1 staff member to help out like they do at supermarkets. Even in 50 years there will still be stupid and lazy people so why not do it now and get ahead of the game.
That would be my suggestion. As long as there is one staff member at least; more if needed then it's fine. You can't go 100% digital.
Totally agree, more and more places will be 100% digital but most will always need a human to be close at hand.
I'd like to see them quit using 'restaurant' as a description of themselves. Since when were they ever a restaurant? and they certainly won't be after removing most of the front-end staff.
There are real limitations in the customisations that can be made through the kiosk.
E.g. You can't throw eggs on most things.
They also might want to include hand sanitiser to account for now not being able to order without people getting fecal matter all over their hands.
Mmmm fecal matter and chocolate sundaes.
Not lovin it.
I am loving saving my body from all those chemicals.
The new Cotter Road/Kirkpatrick St store in ACT seems to be an all kiosk store (well there's still a drive through and of course you can use the app), while they might not be converting old stores guess they're pushing it in new stores.
We went to McDonalds on Good Friday. We sat down, I tried to order through the app, and the app said that the store was shut. So I went to the kiosk to order, and got to the point of trying to pay when nothing would work. I then had to line up and use the cashier anyway. Third time lucky. The system is not that foolproof.
Any update on this?
all the ones ive been to recently staff rarely hang around the counter for orders, they are normally just giving food and running back to the kitchen anyway.
Gonna lose a lot of business. I still routinely see kiosks out of order, not accepting app deal codes, etc. And afaik the kiosks don't take cash either.