McDonald’s Continues Digital Push With Dedicated Team

McDonald’s, with an increasing focus on digital initiatives and new technologies to sell food, has created a digital customer engagement team, according to a report by CNBC.

In an effort to reach new customers and grow sales, the company has been installing self-order kiosks in an increasing number of restaurants. It also continues to pursue partnerships with food delivery companies and to make significant investments in technology.

The fast-food giant started McD Tech Labs in 2019, a venture based in Silicon Valley staffed with tech workers that include data scientists and engineers.

“Digital is transforming global retail, and it will transform McDonald’s,” said CEO Chris Kempczinski. “At the same time, I’ve heard your feedback that we still have more work to do to fulfill our digital potential.”

The customer engagement team will be responsible for loyalty, delivery, digital ordering and personalization of orders. They will meet with a newly formed advisory council made up of the company’s top executives at least once a quarter.

The team will be led by Lucy Brady, the former senior vice president of corporate strategy and business development. She will serve as the new chief digital customer engagement officer. Before coming to McDonald’s, Brady worked at the Boston Consulting Group. She has been at McDonald’s since 2016, where she helped to grow the company’s nascent delivery business to over $4 billion in just three years. She was also instrumental in the acquisition of Dynamic Yield, a company that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to help personalize the drive-thru experience.

The fast food brand’s other tech-leaning teams, including the marketing technology and global delivery departments, will merge under the digital customer engagement umbrella and work under Brady.

Digital orders are booming across the industry; they have increased 23 percent in the last four years, reaching $26.8 billion in sales, per the report.