McDonald’s is planning a major boost to its marketing strategy by introducing contactless payment technology into all its restaurants by the end of this month.
The company is the first fast-food chain to introduce the Oyster-card style technology, which it claims will open up greater scope for loyalty marketing.
Mark Fabes, UK IT director for McDonald’s, said that the move will also improve the customer experience. “It’s about the customer journey. It’s quicker than the chip-and-pin transaction. It also allows us to consider what we may do in the loyalty space with promotions and vouchering.”
The company does not expect the service to experience heavy use initially, but to grow in time, leading to increased revenue.
Fabes added: “The number of cards with contactless capability among the customer base at the moment is low. But we recgonise that contactless near-field communications capability will soon be in many customers’ hands. We believe that having this technology now will help drive people into our restaurants.”
He claimed: “It gives us first mover advantage in the industry, much as in 2007 when we were the first to introduce free Wi-Fi.”
