What if the speed of your McDonald’s order isn’t just about the crew’s efficiency but also about the technology that the company uses? Every day, millions of Big Macs, French Fries, and Happy Meals are served across thousands of locations worldwide.
But behind that quick and quality service, there is a powerful Point of sale software that usually goes unnoticed. In this article, we will tell you everything about “McDonalds POS System” like its history, features, alternatives, and much more.
What POS System Does McDonald’s Use?
McDonald’s uses a specialized system known as “NewPOS” or “NP6 POS System” which is specifically built for handling high-volume orders and other operations efficiently.
This platform was originally developed by Savista and then later acquired by Torex. In 2007, McDonald’s bought the source code and then further customized it according to their operational needs.
It has been almost 18 years, and the company is still working on improving its POS system by integrating mobile apps, kiosks, online delivery, drive-thru orders, and other operations.
History in Brief
Today, McDonald’s has more than 40,000 locations all over the world, but do you know how they became the biggest fast-food brand? Although there are so many reasons for it but the main reason is its Point of Sale (POS) system.
In the 1980s, McDonald’s started using digital systems instead of manual cash registers, and then in the 2000s, the company moved from traditional to electronic POS systems globally.
After that, they started developing their in-house platform in 2007, and then in the 2020s, they introduced some important features like Cloud POS, CRM, detailed reporting, inventory management, and much more.
Key Features of McDonald’s Point of Sale (POS) System
However, we have already discussed some of the basic features of this system that help McDonald’s to work efficiently but here in this section, we will explore some more of them in detail.
- Global Language Support: Since the company operates in over 100 countries, that’s why they made their system multilingual so that crew members from different regions can easily learn their systems without any struggle.
- Fast Contactless Payments: Although McDonald’s payment methods were always up to date but after COVID-19, they started moving towards contactless payments like Credit cards, Debit cards, Cash App, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and other digital wallets.
- High-Speed Order Processing: Like other fast food brands, McDonald’s doesn’t use a third-party POS system. They only use their in-house developed platform, which helps them to achieve speed and accuracy even when there are hundreds of orders in the queue.
- Mobile App and Kiosk Integration: To make things easier, the company provides multiple ways to place orders, like through mobile apps, kiosk screens, drive-thru, etc. All these orders automatically route to their appropriate stations so that they can be processed quickly.
- Real-Time Inventory Management: To maintain a proper availability of the stocks, McDonald’s POS system gives you real-time insights about the inventory levels so that you can restock them on time. It’s also one of the important duties of the cashier in the restaurant.
- Integrated Kitchen Display System (KDS): All the orders placed by the customers are directly sent to the kitchen display systems. This allows crew members to instantly see the order queue so that they can prepare them accordingly without any miscommunication.
Best POS Alternatives for Quick-Service Restaurants
Since McDonald’s Point of sale platform is not available for other businesses, we suggest owners look for some other alternatives that have similar features and are compatible with your services.
| Clover | Square | SumUp | Lightspeed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Features: * Fingerprint login * Intuitive back office * Top range hardware selection | Features: * Free plan * Free online store * Wide range of affordable hardware | Features: * Integrated marketing & loyalty tools * Mobile and QR code ordering on all plans * Android & iOS app | Features: * Marketing tools + loyalty programs * Delivery and contactless online * Ingredient usage tracking |
| Pricing: * Starter: $89.95/month * Standard: $109.90/month * Advanced: $129.85/month | Pricing: * Free: $0/month * Plus: $69/month * Premium: $165 | Pricing: * POS Lite: $0/month * Connect Lite: $99/month * Connect Plus: $199/month * Connect Pro: $289/month | Pricing: * Essential: $189/month * Premium: $399/month * Enterprise: Custom pricing |
Conclusion
McDonald’s NP6 system is not only great because of its robust features, but the main reason is that the company keeps reinvesting its time and research in making the POS system better.
After upgrading it continuously for years, it has now become one of the best point of sale platforms, which possesses features like Scalability, Seamless Integration, Data-Driven Decision Making, and Global Standardization.