McDonald's Boosts McNuggets Sales With iBeacon Test If you're near a McDonald's in Columbus, Ga., get ready for coupons to start popping up on your iPhone.
By Kate Taylor
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
McDonald's is going high-tech in Georgia.
Fast-food franchisees in Columbus, Ga. are using iBeacons to provide customers with coupons, alerts and even employment opportunities when they near a McDonald's.
"Everyone is looking at their phones, millennials especially, and that's where we've decided to engage," Jack Pezold, a McDonald's franchisee of 40 years, said in a statement.
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McDonald's partnered with Piper, a beacon solutions company, to create an app that sends offers to nearby potential customers who opt in on their smartphones. Customers have the ability to customize what type of messages and deals they want to receive from the fast-food chain, and can opt out from receiving any messages at all.
During the app's initial four-week launch, Piper reports that there were more than 18,000 offer redemptions for the promoted items. Due to the iBeacon boost, McChicken sales reportedly increased 8 percent and McNuggets increased 7.5 percent from the previous month.
Pezold says that he plans to expand the coupon efforts across multiple dayparts, as well as add additional beacons to push employment offers and customer satisfaction surveys. If the franchisee success with beacons continues, it might be time for corporate to take a look at iBeacons as a potential high-tech fix for the struggling fast-food chain.
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