re: Ordering fast food through an “app”

1. They don’t need someone to take your order. It’s hard to find people with the soft skills to create a pleasant experience and it costs money to have them in place.
2. Average check is higher on apps because of upselling opportunities. The more you spend, the more they make.
3. Accuracy rates are higher, so you’re more likely to return
4. it’s a medium through which they can track your spending behavior and entice you to return in the event you become a lapsed customer. They can advertise to you for free, basically.
5. Busy fast food restaurants have a revenue bottleneck at the drive thru. Their revenue is capped by how many orders they can process in a certain period of time. The app moves people through the line more quickly, thus increasing throughput and, therefore, revenue

I’m sure there are more benefits I’m not considering, but these are substantial factors to the restaurant. They want to condition this ordering behavior, so they offer discounts to encourage it.