After successfully testing Dynamic Yield’s personalization platform in several U.S restaurants in 2018, McDonald’s acquired the company, becoming one of the first global restaurant brands to integrate decision technology into its restaurants. Following the acquisition, Dynamic Yield rolled out its product recommendation technology in more than 12,000 McDonald’s Drive Thrus in the U.S. during a quick, six month ramp up.
In the U.S. Drive Thru menu and in-store kiosk displays, McDonald’s is able to show relevant menu items based on factors such as time of day, current restaurant traffic, and popularity to help provide an enhanced customer experience. As part of this work, Dynamic Yield collaborates with the McDonald’s team to regularly test different user experiences and machine learning algorithms and recommendation strategies. Ultimately, Dynamic Yield built intelligent deep learning-based algorithms specifically for McDonald’s based on a unique set of requirements and business needs. These allowed McDonald’s to better optimize ‘Recommended Items’ and ‘Suggestive Sell’ recommendations across digital menu boards and generate incremental average check size.
Now, just a few years later, McDonald’s has scaled the deployment of Dynamic Yield in Drive Thrus and in-store kiosks across several global markets, including Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Today, recommendations served on a McDonald’s digital screen integrated with Dynamic Yield’s technology, whether within the Drive Thru or in-restaurant kiosk – is being A/B tested and regularly optimized against at least one other algorithm. Improving ordering experiences and ushering in a new era of digital engagement for the iconic brand is just the beginning, as McDonald’s plans to further scale and integrate Dynamic Yield’s capabilities globally.
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