McDonald’s, in its largest acquisition in 20 years, is buying an Israeli decision-logic technology company to better personalize menus in its digital push, spending more than $300 million on Dynamic Yield Ltd., reports Fortune (March 26, 2019). With the new technology, McDonald’s restaurants can vary their electronic menu boards’ display of items, depending on factors such as the weather—more coffee on cold days and McFlurries on hot days, for example—and the time of day or regional preferences. The menus will also suggest add-on items to customers.
Since 2015 the 38,000 store burger chain has pushed technology—including self-order kiosks, digital menus boards and delivery— to boost sales and help McDonald’s stand out among rivals. Since the firm seldom carries out acquisitions, the purchase of Dynamic Yield shows the company’s desire to leverage technology to speed growth in the fiercely competitive restaurant industry. The move will make McDonald’s one of the first companies to integrate decision technology into the customer point of sale at a brick and mortar location.
“Technology is a critical element of our velocity growth plan,” says the McDonald’s CEO. “We are expanding the role that technology will play in McDonald’s future and the speed with which we’ll be able to implement our vision of creating more personalized experiences for our customers.” The company said it would roll out the technology at restaurants in the U.S. in 2019 and then expand the use to other top international markets.
Classroom discussion questions:
- What was McDonald’s largest acquisition before Dynamic Yield?
- What other technologies have entered the restaurant industry?