As McDonald's "confronts the reality" of its need to revive its business, the company is placing a big bet on mobile and other tech platforms.
Adopting mobile ordering has given many restaurant chains a boost, but it hasn't come without pain, even for industry leaders like Panera and Starbucks.
Starbucks, which has seen great success with its mobile order and pay app, reported in January that an increase in digital orders actually hurt its same-store sales. Congestion at the hand-off counter caused incoming customers to leave without making a purchase, despite lines at the register being short, Kevin Johnson, Starbucks' president and soon-to-be CEO, said, at the time.
McDonald's CEO Steve Easterbrook told CNBC on Thursday that the company has been "mindful" of the additional demands and are working to create a platform that suits the needs of both the customer and the kitchen.
"We've been very mindful that if we're going to be creating demand, can we meet that demand?" Easterbrook said on CNBC's "Squawk on the Street." "Can our kitchens keep up and our managers do a great job? So, we will actually link from end to end as your place your order and it's integrated into our kitchen operation so we can actually meet the demand that we'll be creating. So we're confident there's no hurdles as we grow our business."
The golden arches was late to the mobile game, but is expected to launch the product in 20,000 restaurants by the end of 2017.
McDonald's also is adding self-service ordering kiosks to its restaurants.
"We find customers prefer the kiosks because, particularly larger groups or moms with kids, like to spend a bit more time, they can dwell, they can have fun putting the order together, they can customize it easier and they don't have that stress that sometimes they feel at the front counter when they feel rushed," Easterbrook said.
He noted that all of its restaurants in France have been fully integrated with this technology. There they found it also decongests the area at the front counter.
"It's a win for customers and smooths our operation as well, which is great," he said.
The kiosks are part of McDonald's "experience of the future," which is coming to about 650 restaurants this year, bringing the chain's number of these stores to nearly 2,500.
The burger giant will also be exploring delivery in the U.S. in an attempt to meet customer demand and changes in how consumers want to get their food.
McDonald's already has a large delivery presence in Asia — which accounts for 10 percent of system sales in that market — and is hoping to capitalize on the growing industry demand by offering delivery in America. It is currently testing out several models, both in-house and via third-party providers.
Easterbrook noted that 75 percent of the population in its top five markets — the U.S., France, the U.K., Germany and Canada — are within three miles of a McDonalds and 85 percent are within five miles of a chain.
"The reality is the customer demand exists already for home delivery," Easterbrook said. "So, it's not like we have got to go out and create a market. There's a market there that we simply do not currently meet."