McDonald’s announced today that it has acquired personalization platform Dynamic Yield to make the fast food giant’s menus more technologically dynamic. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but sources told TechCrunch the price was more than $300 million.
According to the press announcement:
McDonald’s will utilize this decision technology to provide an even more personalized customer experience by varying outdoor digital Drive Thru menu displays to show food based on time of day, weather, current restaurant traffic and trending menu items. The decision technology can also instantly suggest and display additional items to a customer’s order based on their current selections.
So it’s kinda like a Netlix, only it recommends Big Macs and chicken nuggets.
Mickey D’s said the technology had already been tested in several locations last year and will roll out at drive throughs in the U.S. throughout 2019. Additionally, the technology will be integrated into other customer screen experiences like in-store kiosks and mobile web app as well.
This type of dynamically generated content is one of the strengths of electronic menus as it can present and potentially better upsell items it knows people typically buy. McD’s can also make the purchasing process more efficient (i.e. present breakfast items prominently in the morning) to ideally sell more stuff.
No doubt a behemoth like McDonald’s acquiring Dynamic Yield will speed up adoption of advanced ordering and personalization tech, and spur others in the space to do the same (that is, if McDonald’s can get its franchisees on board).
In fact, drive throughs and kiosk ordering have already been experiencing a bit of a renaissance with QSRs. Long John Silver invested heavily in revamping its drive throughs as it looks towards fully automating the experience. Good Times Burger & Frozen Custard in Colorado is using AI to take customers’ drive through orders. And in-store ordering kiosks at Caliburger let you pay with your face.
Based in New York, Dynamic Yield had raised $83.3 million dollars.
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