BEACONS: Adverts on payment terminals prompt customers to download the Piper app

Twenty-six McDonald’s franchises in Columbus, Georgia have installed Bluetooth beacons that can be used to deliver coupons, alerts, employment opportunities and customer satisfaction surveys directly to a consumer’s smartphone as they enter a participating location.

The service was developed by the fast food giant in conjunction with beacon solution provider Piper and enables customers to personalise the type of messages they receive in order to get the most relevant deals to them.

In the four weeks since the service has launched, more than 18,000 offers have been received. This, Piper says, has led to “an 8% increase of McChicken sales and a 7.5% sales increase of McNuggets” and plans are now in place to roll the service out to an additional 263 stores across Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina.

“Everyone is looking at their phones, millennials especially, and that’s where we’ve decided to engage,” says McDonald’s franchisee Jack Pezold. “We know our customers and Piper’s beacon solution allows us to cater to their tastes, preferences and behaviours, making it easy for them to get more value and enjoyment out of their McDonald’s experience.”

“Based on our current performance, we plan to expand our coupon efforts across multiple dayparts through Piper so we can continue to measure consumer response. We’re also adding additional Piper beacons to push employment offers and customer satisfaction surveys, both of which are having early success.”