Ever so quietly, Uber Eats has taken a big bite out of McDonald’s (MCD) operations.
Uber Eats is now available at a whopping 9,000 of the fast-food giant’s 14,000-plus U.S. locations, McDonald’s U.S. President Chris Kempczinski told Yahoo Finance. Kempczinki was speaking Tuesday evening during a media gathering inside McDonald’s swank new three-story flagship restaurant opening this week in New York City’s Times Square.
The number of McDonald’s U.S. locations with Uber Eats availability had not been previously released.
Kempczinski — who joined McDonald’s in 2015 from Kraft Foods — said Uber Eats represents about 2% to 3% of McDonald’s U.S. business. But the average is deceiving Kempczinski said — in some locations, near college campuses, Uber Eats could represent 15% of sales as lazy carless kids order to their dorm rooms. At others, the Uber Eats influence is negligible as it’s quicker to just hit the drive-thru.
“We are still learning where that business could go — certainly we expect delivery to keep growing,” Kempczinski said. The impact of Uber Eats is causing McDonald’s executives to rethink some areas of its operations moving forward.
“Well, we are certainly going to have to start thinking about packaging that is specific to delivery. We are starting to see when the profile of people order is different, more around late night and dinner — that affects staffing,” explained Kempczinski. “And then it impacts menu strategy. For example, do you continue to sell fountain drinks or do you have bottles and cans that you can offer through delivery.”