McDonald's is jumping on the tabletop tablet bandwagon.
The fast food chain giant will be installing Samsung Galaxy tablets in the majority of it's UK restaurants for guests to use and enjoy -- all part of their "Experience the Future" campaign.
“The tablets form an important part of our new customer experience initiative, which is part of our overall ‘Experience of the Future’ program. We pride ourselves on listening to our customers and trying to provide new and innovative experiences.”
Diners will be able to use the tablets to play games, use social media and browse the web while they eat. The tablets also include nutrition info, let diners apply for jobs at McDonald's, find other McD's locations and more.
McDonald's has been experimenting with the tablet idea for a couple of years over 250 locations. They've also experimented with touch screen self-order stations and touch-screen kiosks that give guests the option of having their food delivered to their table.
“Technology has an important role to play in all walks of life, including our customers’ eating out experience, so the changes we’re making as part of the ‘Experience of the Future’ program bring us closer to the way people live their lives today. ”
The tablets have proved to be a big enough hit for McD's to invest in expanding their tablet offerings to most UK locations.
And unlike Red Robin, McDonald's isn't sneakily charging their guests to play games on the tablets. In fact, they're not charging anything at all. They've also installed wireless charging stations at locations across Europe.
A sign of things to come?
McDonald's is getting serious about integrating how people live in the modern world into their customer experience.
A tablet at every table might not be feasible (or the right move) for every bar and restaurant out there, but it's definitely a sure sign that having this type of tech at establishments is becoming more mainstream. McDonald's wouldn't be dropping that much money if they weren't sure this is what their customers wanted.