Burger King, the fast-food chain operator, has a leg up on McDonald’s when it comes to letting customers order and pay for their food with their mobile phones, reported Bloomberg.
Since December, Burger King has been testing mobile payments in the Miami area and is aiming to roll it out on a broader scale, Jose Cil, Burger King’s president, told Bloomberg, noting it’s likely there will be a national rollout of mobile ordering and payments in the coming months. While pizza restaurants like Domino’s and coffee retailers like Starbucks were early with mobile ordering and payments, the burger fast-food chains have been slow to adopt the technology. McDonald’s, noted Bloomberg, is gearing up to roll out its own mobile payment app by the end of the year with the ability to make orders and pay via a smartphone by the end of 2017, noted the report.
Since McDonald’s is behind, it gives Burger King the chance to get in front of the leader in fast food.
“We have been focused on restaurant integration to ensure our customers enjoy a seamless experience and more convenience than ever before,” Terri Hickey, a spokeswoman for Oak Brook, Ill.–based McDonald’s, said in an email to Bloomberg. The technology will offer “the flexibility to pick up their order at the front counter, the drive-thru or with new curbside delivery,” she said.
For Burger King, Cil told Bloomberg the mobile ordering and payment app will help the chain create more of a connection with its customers.
“Our guests want to interact with us in more convenient ways, and we’re looking to put our brand in the palm of their hands,” he said. He wouldn’t provide an exact date for the national rollout of the mobile payment app. Bloomberg noted a mobile payment app will help Burger King retain customers because of the ease of purchasing ahead of time and paying for food without need of a card or cash.
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