McDonald’s redoing its drive-thrus

Digital menu displays take cue from Amazon

A trip to McDonald’s will soon become more personalized.

The fast-food giant announced Monday that it has an agreement to acquire Dynamic Yield, a company considered a leader in personalization and “decision logic technology.”

McDonald’s said in a statement that it will use the 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 traffic and trending menu items.”

Based on an order’s selections, the technology also can suggest and display additional items, much like Amazon and other retailers’ highlight what other customers purchased.

McDonald’s says it will be one of the first companies to integrate decision technology into the customer point of sale at a brick-and-mortar location. The technology was tested in several restaurants in 2018 and will begin to be rolled out to all U.S. locations in 2019 after the acquisition closes, the company said in a statement.

Steve Easterbrook, McDonald’s president and CEO, said in a statement that the move can enhance the customer experience and provide greater convenience.

“With this acquisition, we’re expanding both our ability to increase the role technology and data will play in our future and the speed with which we’ll be able to implement our vision of creating more personalized experiences for our customers,” Easterbrook said.

The technology also is slated to be integrated into self-order kiosks and the McDonald’s mobile app.

Dynamic Yield is based in New York and Tel Aviv, Israel, and after the sale is finalized, McDonald’s says it will be the sole owner.

Liad Agmon, co-founder and CEO of Dynamic Yield, said the company was started seven years ago “with the premise that customer-centric brands must make personalization a core activity.”