McDonald’s Corporation (McD) has acquired an AI-based startup Dynamic Yield in a $300 million deal.
Dynamic Yield is a leader in personalization and decision logic technology. With this acquisition of Dynamic Yield, McDonald’s builds on its first technology acquisition for growth.
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.
This will enable McDonald’s to be one of the first companies to integrate decision technology into the customer point of sale at a brick and mortar location.
McDonald’s tested this technology in several U.S. restaurants in 2018. Upon closing of the acquisition, McDonald’s will begin to roll this technology out in the Drive Thru at restaurants in the United States in 2019 and then expand the use to other top international markets.
McDonald’s will also begin work to integrate the technology into all of its digital customer experience touchpoints, such as self-order kiosks and McDonald’s Global Mobile App.
Liad Agmon, co-founder and CEO of Dynamic Yield, added, “We started Dynamic Yield seven years ago with the premise that customer-centric brands must make personalization a core activity. We’re thrilled to be joining an iconic global brand such as McDonald’s and are excited to innovate in ways that have a real impact on people’s daily lives.”
However, Dynamic Yield will remain a stand-alone company and employees will continue to operate out of offices around the world. Dynamic Yield will also continue to serve their current, and attract future, clients.
McDonald’s is the world’s leading global foodservice retailer with nearly 38,000 locations in over 100 countries around the world. Over 92 percent of McDonald’s restaurants worldwide are owned and operated by independent local business men and women.
Dynamic Yield is an AI-powered Personalization Anywhere™ platform that delivers individualized experiences at every customer touchpoint. Headquartered in New York, the company serves more than 300 brands across the world.