McDonald's, Chick-fil-A Launch App to Track Customers' Location and Reduce Wait Times

McDonald's and Chick-fil-A restaurant chains are introducing a new mobile app to track the location of their customers. The new app features geofencing technology that will reduce the waiting time for collecting orders at the stores.

The tracking app will also allow McDonald's and Chick-fil-A to make sure that the food they will serve is still hot and crispy. Moreover, customers who place orders via mobile app will no longer have to wait for a long time when collecting their orders.

As per Fox Business, the companies are using the new app so they can improve the delivery of orders. Through the tracking tool, the meals will always be served faster and hot. The chains' main goal is to improve the mobile-order experience of customers when they buy meals through their respective mobile apps.

The new application will track the location of customers, and then the staff of McDonald's and Chick-fil-A will receive a notification if they are already close to the store. In this way, they can prepare the food and serve them freshly made and on time.

Likewise, since the employees know the location of the customer, they can start preparing the food a few minutes before the food is set to be picked up. Another good feature is that app users will know how long their order will take if they choose a dine-in, carry-out, or curbside pick-up option.

The times given by the app are said to be accurate, according to Chick-fil-A. In any case, geofencing technology works through the use of GPS technology to construct a digital perimeter around a certain location. Whenever a device like a smartphone gets inside the perimeter, the app will immediately alert the restaurants of the location.

"Using existing location data, it allows our crew to start assembling a customer's order prior to their arrival at the restaurant, ultimately delivering hot, fresh food when customers arrive to pick up their order," Business Insider quoted McDonald's chief financial officer, Ian Borden, as saying regarding the new tracking app. "While it is still early days deploying this new digital enhancement, initial results are already pointing to improved service times and elevated customer satisfaction scores."

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