Over 1,000 McDonald’s restaurants, including in four big US cities, will offer delivery through Uber.
McDonald’s will offer delivery via Uber in four more US cities.
The partnership between the burger chain and the UberEATS app will apply to 1,000 McDonald’s restaurants in Los Angeles, Chicago, Columbus and Phoenix, in addition to several markets in Florida where the companies piloted the program. With a $5 booking fee from Uber, an Egg McMuffin meal will cost about $11 when delivered by the car service — and more if you tip the courier, or if your delivery is in a busy area.
That high price could be a problem, as customers have proven to like McDonald’s most when it’s cheap, but the Golden Arches has been looking to US grow sales through delivery, which it already offers in other countries. It’s most popular in Asia and the Middle East, where restaurants generate up to 40% of their sales from delivery. Globally, the chain saw nearly $1 billion in delivery sales last year.
Here’s what an UberEATS McDonald’s order looks like in LA.
Uber, meanwhile, has been trying to capitalize on its giant network of drivers to expand delivery services with an “Uber Everything” program.
“Uber has a network of over a million drivers in 500+ cities. The Uber Everything team aims to leverage that network for more than just transportation,” an Uber designer wrote on a Medium post last fall.
The new partnership still only covers a fraction of McDonald’s 14,155 domestic restaurants, but “McDonald’s restaurant footprint, combined with the cutting-edge innovation of the UberEATS platform, positions us well to meet the consumer demand for fast and reliable delivery – making this an ideal partnership,” said McDonald’s CEO Steve Easterbrook in a statement.
In the burger chain’s largest markets — US, France, the UK, Germany, and Canada — nearly 75% of the population live within three miles of a McDonald’s.
In January, the two companies ran a “McDelivery” pilot in more than 200 restaurants in Miami, Orlando, and Tampa Bay.
The service expands to 300 restaurants in Los Angeles, 267 in Chicago, 59 in Columbus, and 144 in Phoenix. McDonald’s in other cities will be added in the coming months, according to a press release.
