McDonald's delivers more than 10M McNuggets via Uber Eats

Brief:

McDonald's is celebrating the one-year anniversary of its delivery partnership with Uber Eats in Canada with a social media sweepstakes. Adults in Canada who place a food order on July 19 and share a photo of their McDelivery bag on Twitter or Instagram with hashtags #McDelivery and #Contest will be entered for a chance to win, according to a statement.
Entrants could receive items from a branded collection of 1990s-themed clothing, including a denim jacket, sweatshirt and fanny pack, along with hundreds of promo codes for free menu items for use on their next McDelivery order. The merchandise is not available for sale, though McDonald's Canada will host another McDelivery Day celebration later this year, according to the company's microsite for the promotion.
In the past year, McDonald's has delivered more than 10 million Chicken McNuggets through the Uber Eats app. Overall, 36% of orders took place around dinner time, 32% were late-night orders and 22% came in around lunch.

Insight:

The contest comes as McDonald's has spent the past few years working to transform its business to provide greater convenience with mobile ordering and payment along with food delivery to reach customers where they are, both physically and via digital devices and platforms. By offering the chance to win free throwback swag in exchange for placing a McDelivery order, the fast-food giant is aiming to get more Canadians to test out its relatively new service with Uber Eats.

The burger chain also seeks to boost sales by installing self-ordering kiosks in restaurants a rate of about 10 locations a day for the next couple of years, McDonald's CEO Steve Easterbrook told CNBC last month. The kiosks give customers more time to linger over their orders, which tends to increase how much they end up spending, while also freeing up employees to more efficiently serve customers.

At the same time, its enhanced mobile app also acts like a handheld kiosk with touchscreen ordering. The installation of self-ordering kiosks is part of the global chain's broader "Experience of the Future" concept that includes Uber Eats delivery and menu innovations that it hopes will appeal to younger, more health-conscious consumers.

Adding mobile ordering and self-service kiosks can be challenging for fast-food restaurants as it requires careful integration into existing kitchen processes. Easterbrook also has said customer adoption of its mobile app is "pretty low" and the company plans to work on improving the user experience, training employees and making the technology more reliable and user-friendly. Speaking to analysts and investors in April on a quarterly earnings call, Easterbrook said the app had the biggest effect on boosting curbside pickup.