McDonald’s is moving into greater personalised customer experiences and automation with the acquisition of Tel Aviv-based Dynamic Yield.
The company, which offers a platform analysing data around recommendations, personalisation and targeting and behavioural messaging among others, said it was ‘thrilled’ to join McDonald’s and play a ‘critical role’ in the fast food chain’s digital transformation initiative.
“When [CTO] Omni Mendellevich and I started Dynamic Yield seven years ago, the premise of what we were building was based on customer-centric organisations making individualised experiences and personalisation a strategic priority,” wrote Liad Agmon, Dynamic Yield CEO in a blog post announcing the move. “Our acquisition by McDonald’s, one of the most iconic and beloved brands of our time, is truly an endorsement of that vision as they have chosen Dynamic Yield to help power personalisation across their 37,000 restaurants in 120+ markets around the world.”
From the McDonald’s perspective, CEO Steve Easterbrook explained how the company was continuing to position and progress itself, citing the customer experience of Amazon and Best Buy among others as key. “When we reflect on the last four years, we’ve all invested into the necessary technology to make the overall customer experience more relevant, easier [and] more enjoyable, with the ultimate aim for a much more personalised experience,” he said.
“This technology can work with the intelligent menu boards we have… our ability to learn through [our customers’] behaviours and play back through this technology is unbeatable,” Easterbrook added. “It gives us a huge competitive advantage.”
Tapping into a more engaged audience is evidently a key goal for both parties. Writing for this publication back in January, Mendellevich noted the rise of visual search in the marketer’s playbook. “Make no mistake, text-based search isn’t going the way of the dinosaurs, and voice search may well see significant improvements in the years to come. But visual search is set to become an indispensable piece of the eCommerce puzzle,” Mendellevich wrote.
“The sooner retailers adapt their strategies to the diverse marketplace of today and tomorrow, the better positioned they’ll be to not merely succeed but thrive,” he added.
Reports suggested the deal was at $300 million (£226.7m).
Dynamic Yield and McDonald's were unavailable for comment.
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