McDonald’s Corporation, the leading global foodservice retailer, has signed an agreement to acquire Dynamic Yield Ltd, the leading AI-powered Personalization Anywhere platform, for £226.6m.
New York and Tel Aviv-based Dynamic Yield, which counts Tottenham Hotspurs among its customers, will play a critical role in McDonald’s digital transformation, allowing it to become even more focused on the customer by deploying technology in outdoor digital Drive-Thru menu displays, as well as other digital customer experience touchpoints, such as self-order kiosks and the McDonald’s Global Mobile App.
McDonald’s tested this technology in several US 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 US this year and then expand the use to other top international markets.
Steve Easterbrook, McDonald’s President and CEO, said, “Technology is a critical element of our Velocity Growth Plan, enhancing the experience for our customers by providing greater convenience on their terms. 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 personalised experiences for our customers.”
CEO of Dynamic Yield, Liad Agmon, said, 'This announcement is a major milestone in Dynamic Yield’s history, representing a unique opportunity for us to develop at a higher scale of innovation and break the boundaries of what originally thought possible. Now, with the support of McDonald’s, our growth and efforts in product development, partner and customer support, as well as global presence will only further accelerate.
'We are excited to become a part of the amazing McDonald’s family and look forward to continuing our work building the best personalization technology in the market.'
McDonald’s recent advancements in the tech space – including the development of McDonald’s Global Mobile App, Mobile Order and Pay, indoor and outdoor digital menu boards and self-order kiosks – have transformed customer experiences in and around its restaurants, by giving customers more ways to pay and personalize their orders to meet their needs.
Dynamic Yield enables more than 300 brands in six continents – including industry leaders across retail, gaming, finance, travel, and publishing – to build unified customer profiles, launch and optimize personalisation campaigns, and automate decision-making. Its global sales, services, and product development organisations operate in 10 cities around the world, with more than 200 employees company-wide.