McDonalds Counterless with only Self Order Kiosks (with Cash too)

In the Wild – New McDonald’s in Thornton Colorado

Editors Note 12/17/2024: We have seen the “counterless” McDonalds but their latest “test” is ultra-small stores that have no inside dining, or drive thru and seem to be geared for pickup and delivery by services. Pickup lockers outside are standard.  Story on QSR Magazine. Thanks to Sixteen-Nine for tip.

The new McDonald’s is finally open here in Thornton and seeing McDonald’s Kiosk designs is one of my responsibilities. I have an older McDonalds down the street but the new one is right next to my golf course.

Editors Note: 9/23 — see new writeup on CNN article — McDonalds Touchscreen Kiosks – Not Taking Jobs CNN Story

What We Learned and Confirmed

• Not surprising to see it go in across from the new In-and-Out and Canes
• Most surprising is the compressed ordering area which consists of 5 kiosks with some enabled for cash as well.
• The usual long counter with LCD menus is virtually gone
• Two people help with orders and you sit down and they bring it to you (or you stand around)
• The drive thru menuboards are active digital menus. My “updated” MCD down the street still uses cardboard for specials
• The drive thru menuboards are facing the sun.  We’ll see how they hold up…
• On the drive thru pre-order you can see the Coates decal at bottom
• Figure OH55s from Samsung. Note the “isotropic” failures in California by Coates/Samsung earlier.
• There is legal action related to all that as well.  Improper/lack of ventilation can cause edge seal breach. Damage is permanent.
• Figure the LCDs are $10K each themselves not counting supporting engineering
• Regulatory — I didn’t see UL sticker on the kiosks
• Regulatory – Audiopad from Storm Interface installed and with JAWS screen reader by Vispero
• Regulatory – Not sure where the Braille labels came from and what spec. California has their own special design fyi*
• Ordering — you need to grab a “Table Tent”. We wondered what that was.
• Tables all come with charging plugs and the built in beacons.
• Payment – I always hate using NFC since you can never see if approved/done without removing your card
• Payment – the cheap Verifone was slow as expected
• Kiosk providers — these are manufactured and designed by Pyramid out of Germany (polytouch NGK32 K2) and “vended” into McD by Diebold Nixdorf.  DN and other related companies like NCR have suffered the last couple of years.  DN showed good recent results.
• Nice service contract though given McD certainly margin-limited
• Service photo — receipt jammed and employee fixed it
• Digital Signage display right next to one of the kiosks. Not sure from who.
• Cash — we were talking to attendant and got onto the Glory cash handling.  Unfortunately Glory still uses bank terminology designed for bank employees,  in a retail restaurant where customers are not trained cashiers.  Not often used but the recurring question by customers is “What are Notes?. Is that something on my phone or something?”
• WiFi  — surprised at how fast it is upload and download.  Typically lucky to see 15 and they are almost 100.  Makes it a great place to loiter.

Google Maps

 

Wifi