McDonald’s in Saudi Arabia to support growth with SAP

McDonald’s restaurant chain in Saudi Arabia is to adopt software from SAP that will enable it to digitally transform business processes, enabling it to benefit from data collected about customers and operations.

The company, which employs about 1,200 people in Saudi Arabia, is planning a major expansion and wants to be able to better serve customers who increasingly use technology to engage with it, and at the same time create more appropriate products and services based on information about customers.

Riyadh International Catering Corporation (RICC), which owns and runs McDonald’s in Saudi Arabia under licence, currently has 154 fast food restaurants in the country and plans to expand to more than 200 by 2020.

Like companies in all consumer-facing businesses, it must serve increasingly tech savvy customers. Businesses in retail and catering, for example, are expected to offer services via mobile phone and create offers for individuals based on their behaviour. The businesses themselves can benefit from the data collected during digital engagement with customers, by using business intelligence software.

Cognizant has been contracted by RICC to design and build an enterprise planning and management platform. The system will use SAP Success Factors and ECC software, and will provide real-time visibility of operations and customer behaviour. RICC will try to use customer and operational data to be more efficient and win more business.

“The success of McDonald’s in Saudi Arabia is underpinned by our commitment to delivering our customers the highest standards of quality, service, cleanliness and value,” said Waleed Al-Saud, vice-president, business support, at RICC.

“As we embark on an aggressive growth plan for McDonald’s, it is imperative that we deliver our digital-era customers the experiences they expect, while also empowering and engaging our modern workforce. Technology has become central to unlocking the full potential of enterprise resources and turning data into a competitive asset.”

Narayan Iyer, vice-president for the Middle East and India at Cognizant, said: “In today’s digital era, it is ever more important for restaurant chains to re-engineer and digitise their most essential business processes to improve user experiences, transform service delivery and deliver better outcomes.”