Liu Minxia

    mllmx@msn.com

    INSTEAD of talking to humans to order from a set list of menu items, diners visiting the oldest McDonald’s outlet in China can create their own hamburgers and desserts with a few simple clicks on the self-service kiosks that have been installed in the outlet in Shenzhen’s Dongmen area.

    The 26-year-old Guanghua store was the first in China and the international fast-food giant has upgraded the store to keep stride with the tide of the digital era. It plans to digitalize roughly 1,000 outlets in about 10 Chinese cities, or 40 percent of its outlets in China, in the first half of next year, Zhang Jiayin, CEO of McDonald’s China division, told reporters Friday.

    “Digital technology is gradually changing customers’ lives as well as the fast-food market,” said Zhang. “The Guanghua outlet is an example of our future restaurants where more freedom will be given to customers.”

    Roughly 60 percent of Chinese consumers prefer mobile payment, while the proportion among consumers aged between 18 and 24 years old is as high as 76 percent, a latest Deloitte survey found. Restaurants are the place where consumers use mobile payment most often, the survey showed.

    To adapt to the changes, McDonald’s has started to introduce digital technologies like mobile payment to its restaurants since 2014. “Mobile payment accounts for 40 percent of payments at our China outlets,” said Zhang.

    The rise of third-party fast-food ordering platforms like Baidu Takeout and Meituan.com are asserting pressure on traditional fast-food restaurants. Growth of China’s saturated fast-food market is expected to slow to 4 percent in 2019, less than one-third of that 10 years ago, Euromonitor International statistics showed.

    Instead of asking the diners to take their food to the table by themselves, waitresses at the upgraded outlet will bring the food to the table to upgrade their services.

    Zhang said the cost of the upgrades is not the top consideration for the U.S. fast-food brand. “We hope to explore and find a new growth model through the upgrades,” she said.

    The fast-food chain’s official WeChat account has more than 21 million followers, which enables it to collect and utilize data to find out their needs and develop future services, according to Zhang.