DRIVE-UP ORDERING BECOMES PERSONAL

When you drive up to order a hamburger at McDonald's on Route K, you will find yourself speaking to a person instead of a box.

With the new concept offered by McDonald's, the customer is able to place his order directly to an employee rather than through a speaker.

At the first window an employee greets the customer and takes his order, at the second window an employee greets the customer and takes the payment, and at the third window the customer gets his meal.

Manager Shannon Davis said it is typical of the direction McDonald's is headed. About 160 McDonald's in the St. Louis region now use the concept, and every new restaurant is required to use it.

If it can be done structurally, existing McDonald's eventually will incorporate face-to-face ordering. Since inception two years ago, McDonald's employees have found the concept to be efficient: A better customer relationship is established and accuracy is increased.

Feedback from customers, who like the personal approach, has been positive.

"Face-to-face windows are the wave of the future," Davis said. "They seem to be a corporate initiative of McDonald's.

We realize how important it is to maintain a person-to-person relationship with our customers. Face-to-face windows are a great way to enhance that relationship. Less technology and more personality seem to be working."