McDonald's bets big on cashierless ordering

NEW YORK (FOX5NY) - The "home of the Big Mac" is betting it's not going to have to pay many more guys named "Mac" as the company goes in for more self-service kiosks.

McDonald's is going to expand the number of restaurants with self-service kiosks, adding them to 1,000 of its restaurants each quarter for the next two years.  The burger chain started adding them two years ago and says the experience has been positive for business.  About 1,000 locations in the United States now have the self-ordering kiosks.

CEO Steve Easterbook says that cashierless, self-serve often has people lingering on the menu for a longer time and when they look longer, they buy more.

More mobile ordering and payment use is also resulting in needing less cashiers, too.

The self-service program is more advanced in international markets and is already fully complete in Canada, the UK and Australia with countries like France and Germany catching up.

McDonald's posted net income of $1.38 Billion or $1.72 a share in the first quarter.  That's up from $1.21 Billion or $1.47 for the same period last year.