McDonald's Japan Brings Discounts to Phones

At a press conference held May 20 in the city of Fukuoka, McDonald's Japan's senior officer and director, Nobukazu Maeda, stated that payment using a Kazasu Kuupon (contactless coupon) at the point of sale, rather than a coupon clipped from a newspaper, would make the payment process about 10 times faster, according to a news article published online by ITmedia. For customers, the times saving would be even greater since there would be no coupon clipping at all.

If they prefer, customers can also pay for a meal in cash but still utilize the coupons on their mobile phone. To do so, they would need to indicate to a McDonald's employee that they wish to pay by cash.

To redeem discount coupons, users swipe their phone across an RFID reader.

To join the Kazasu Kuupon program, pilot participants must download and fill out an application online, or on their phone, and submit it to McDonald's Japan's. They can then begin receiving the digital vouchers on their phones on a regular basis.

"This sort of promotion is dependent on a country having a high percentage of 3G [third-generation] telephony," says Liam Jeory, corporate relations VP of McDonald's Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa (APMEA). This, he notes, would require a much higher level of cell phone functionality than currently exists outside of Asia. "This sort of technology enables many uses, including better Internet access and the ability to use the phone as a cash card and pay for items by simply swiping the cell phone, automatically deducting cash from a balance."

Additionally, McDonald's Japan is allowing pilot participants to read bar codes attached to the food items they purchase. A participating customer uses the phone's camera to capture the food's bar code and access the section of the McDonald's Web site listing that item's nutritional information. "Our Japan team is always looking for other ways of leveraging this technology—hence the couponing," Jeory says.

McDonald's Corp. does not intend to launch a similar pilot in North America, according to a company spokesperson in the United States.