McDonald's tech chief on Ready on Arrival experience

McDonald’s head of technology deployment and testing Courtney Barnett argues that the company’s new Ready on Arrival feature is fundamentally a customer experience story, not a technological triumph. The system uses geofencing to identify when an app user is approaching a restaurant and triggers kitchen alerts at the optimal moment. This approach aims to reduce wait times and ease operational pressure at locations.

The initiative is designed to take friction out of Mobile Order & Pay by ensuring orders are neither started too late nor left waiting too long. Barnett explains that if the company asks customers to use the app, it must be genuinely easier and faster than the alternatives. Historically, some customers experienced friction in the mobile ordering journey, which could impact whether they returned to the platform. Ready on Arrival was designed to tackle exactly that.

Pilot results showed a reduction in wait times and higher customer satisfaction scores. The company tracks a blend of operational and customer measures, including wait times, satisfaction scores, and repeat usage. The technology relies on signals such as location data and order intent. Barnett notes that data does not create value on its own; what creates value is knowing how to use that data to solve a real customer problem. Customers judge the outcome, not the infrastructure behind it.

While the software works behind the scenes, the biggest deployment challenge was not the technology itself. It was the people and process side that required the most attention. Ready on Arrival alters the way restaurants think about mobile orders. Previously, an order became visible when the customer arrived. Now, the system gives teams advance signals from the customer journey, allowing them to prepare food just in time.

That shift required training and communication across thousands of crew members. The challenge was making sure teams felt confident with the new process while maintaining food quality and service standards. Once teams experienced it in action, they quickly saw the benefits. Before Ready on Arrival, a mobile order only became visible to the restaurant when the customer arrived. Now the business has a better understanding of demand before the customer walks through the door.

This helps restaurants sequence orders more effectively during busy periods. It has moved the company from being reactive to being much more proactive. The result is a smoother flow for crew and a more predictable experience for customers. Customers get hotter food, faster service and less waiting around, which is exactly what the business is aiming for.

As McDonald’s expands the technology across markets, consistency becomes as important as innovation. The business has built Ready on Arrival around global standards, shared learnings and structured deployment. This is supported by playbooks, training materials and operational insight from earlier launches. One thing McDonald’s does exceptionally well is take a great idea and create a repeatable model around it. There are always local nuances, but the core customer experience remains the same.

Barnett stresses that scaling successfully depends on more than just turning on new functionality. The company spends a lot of time making sure the technology, restaurant operations and crew readiness all come together before launch. The feature is now live in many locations, helping to streamline the flow of orders and service. [1] The ability to manage rising costs and maintain efficiency is vital for the industry, as seen when logistics confidence rises despite higher expenses.

Scaling successfully is about much more than just switching on new technology. The feature is now live in many locations, helping to streamline the flow of orders and service. [2] This proactive approach mirrors how modern tools help firms manage complex systems, such as Vialto Introduces AI Immigration Tool to handle detailed administrative tasks.