Coupons are obsolete. The actual deals are on the App. Same idea except the App probably tracks my email or something, so they get more info on what deals I'm browsing or thinking about. (I'm sure it's watching what I click on and browse....)
I'd say coupons disappeared about 5 years ago? Somewhere around COVID-19.
The app's data sharing disclosure on Android includes home address and some payment information.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mcdonalds....
The app deals get prices down to where they’d be if the menu prices hadn’t gone up waaaay faster than the rate of inflation, and sometimes down to what actual coupon or sale prices should be. The menu prices are batshit crazy.
The local McDonald's has big signs out screaming "Link your payment card! Order ahead with the app! Give us some sort of reward points code!"
Last time I went inside one, the till was unmanned, and I had to flag down an employee because I wanted to pay cash (and couldn't find what I wanted on the ordering kiosk).
I can see why that customer flow appeals to them-- if they can remove the underpaid high-school kid at the till from the loop, he's not handing discounted items out to his friends, or making change wrong, or simply bollixing up data entry.
That's a feature for the BUSINESS, not the CUSTOMER, though. Don't try to sell it to me as something I want. I assume that's why they've pushed so much of the reasonably-priced items through app ordering-- they've got to convince people to use it SOMEHOW.
Fast food is supposed to be cheap and easy-- more of an impulse purchase. Expecting me to install an app and pre-plan my visit, if I don't want to pay sit-down prices, is a hell of a lot of friction.
It's easy to imagine someone driving up to the menu, all the kids looking and deciding what they want, then proceeding straight through, pulling into a parking spot, making an in-app order, and coming back to pick it up. Otherwise, the $40 order becomes $65.
Their marketing consultants probably told them we'd pull up their app/website before we got there, but obviously they have never been in a family where going out for lunch consists of 20 minutes of driving past restaurants and horse-trading before a consensus can finally be reached. What was their user persona exactly?
Looping that one paid for a loooot of bike parts lol.
It's a frustrating experience in my experience, because you either have to:
- go handle your phone in the drive thru and wait to put it 'just in time'
- try to put it together before and pull it up there, the app might eat it
- 'pre-order' which will totally fuck you over if you get there and the line is backed out to the street for whatever ungodly reason. If it isn't, you'll either get your food normally, or somehow you wind up getting something that almost feels like it was made before you even placed the order.
- Speaking of above, using the app seems to result in a higher probability of getting stuff that definitely feels 'aged' in some way or otherwise put together like trash.
that's the closest to a coupon I've used at maccas
It's the same food but in smaller portions, which sounds more appealing to me. I wish more places had appropriately sized & priced portions of food instead of "here's 2500 calories and a drink with enough sugar to give you diabetes for $10".
Sometimes I get random cravings for certain fast foods, but I always feel like a sucker when I opt to get less food but pay almost the exact same. The idea of getting the bigger sizes of fast food and reheating leftovers makes my stomach churn a little, though, haha.
Wendy's largely does the same. I imagine it's to take advantage of hungry passerby's and such.
Are they basically creating two price tags: for those who do and don’t really care enough? Ie. we’ll take your money if you’re fine paying a whole lot more for a meal. Otherwise here it is for half off.