McDonald's, Starbucks in China go 'contactless' to beat virus

NEW YORK/BEIJING - With the coronavirus outbreak in China continuing to spread, McDonald's Corp, Starbucks Corp and other fast-food companies are ramping up "contactless" pickup and delivery services to keep their workers and customers safe, the companies said.

For delivery orders, drivers drop McDonald's packages at building entrances, disinfect their delivery bags and wash their hands more frequently. Drivers carry ID cards showing that they - and the people who made and packaged their food - had their body temperature scanned to prove they do not have a fever.

In early February, 83 percent of all stores on the Meituan-Dianping delivery platform - one of the largest in the country - were closed, according to Beijing-based data firm BigOne Lab.Starbucks suggests customers order coffee via its app and then wait outside its cafés until they get a pick-up notice. Orders are placed on tables just inside café entrances.

Yum China Holdings Inc rolled out contactless delivery on Jan. 30, with contactless pickup coming two days later at its KFC and Pizza Hut locations, the company said.There had been contactless delivery in China prior to the crisis, when couriers would drop packages at a consumer's door or lobby or place parcels in lockers for later pickup.

One customer, for example, asked a delivery person to put a parcel in the elevator and press the button for the designated floor. The customer grabbed the package when the doors opened - unaccompanied by the courier, according to a post on CCTV News' social media account on Weibo, said Allison Malmsten, a marketing strategy analyst at Daxue Consulting in Shanghai.Since the start of the outbreak, Yum China has closed more than 30% of its locations.

Early during the epidemic, meal delivery took a hit because customers feared contact with drivers would put them at risk of infection, according to news reports.

Oh wow! It's like a movie scene. Very dystopian.

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