McDonald’s buys “decision technology” expert Dynamic Yield: McDonald’s is to acquire Dynamic Yield, a leader in personalisation and decision logic technology. With this acquisition of Dynamic Yield, based in New York and Tel Aviv, McDonald’s builds on its significant technology investments for growth. McDonald’s will utilise this decision technology to provide an even more personalised customer experience by varying outdoor digital Drive Thru menu displays to show food based on time of day, weather, current restaurant traffic and trending menu items. The decision technology can also instantly suggest and display additional items to a customer’s order based on their current selections. This will enable McDonald’s to be one of the first companies to integrate decision technology into the customer point of sale at a brick and mortar location. 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 United States in 2019 and then expand the use to other top international markets. McDonald’s will also begin work to integrate the technology into all of its digital customer experience touchpoints, such as self-order kiosks and McDonald’s Global Mobile App. The company stated: “Dynamic Yield’s ability to meet McDonald’s customer needs, coupled with their commitment to grow capabilities around ever-changing consumer trends and evolving marketing technologies, allows for the continued advancement and elevation of the McDonald’s customer experience with technology and innovation.” Chief executive Steve Easterbrook 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.” Liad Agmon, co-founder and chief executive of Dynamic Yield, added: “We started Dynamic Yield seven years ago with the premise that customer-centric brands must make personalisation a core activity.  We’re thrilled to be joining an iconic global brand such as McDonald’s and are excited to innovate in ways that have a real impact on people’s daily lives.” The company added: “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 personalise their orders to meet their needs. Upon closing, McDonald’s will become sole owner and will continue to invest in Dynamic Yield’s core personalisation product and world-class teams. Dynamic Yield will remain a stand-alone company and employees will continue to operate out of offices around the world. Dynamic Yield will also continue to serve their current, and attract future, clients.” 

Domino’s Pizza Poland reports sales growth: Domino’s Pizza Poland has reported a 24% increase in system sales in the full year to 31 December 2018. Like-for-like growth increased by 6%. Peter Shaw, chief executive of DP Poland, said: “In spite of a challenging second half to the year we achieved a 24% increase in System Sales and significant growth in both corporate store Ebitda and commissary gross profit in 2018. Understanding the external factors that negatively impacted sales growth, namely the unusually warm and dry weather and unprecedented levels of advertising spend by the two main delivery aggregators, has informed our sales and marketing response in 2019. We have launched an innovative marketing campaign for 2019 featuring bespoke video and image content that will run throughout the year on digital, rather than traditional, channels, including YouTube, Facebook and Instagram. Alongside this campaign we are trialling a partnership with the largest delivery aggregator, Pyszne (Takeaway.com) and early signs of significant incremental sales look promising as we leverage Pyszne’s significant advertising spend. The share placing completed at the end of February gives the business the requisite funds for further corporate store openings and investment in sales and marketing.”