McDonald's made a $300 million deal to sell you things like Amazon does

McDonald's is acquiring artificial-intelligence startup Dynamic Yield in a $300 million deal. With the new tech, McDonald's drive-thru menus will update instantaneously based on factors such as the time of day, weather, and customers' current selections. Chains such as McDonald's, Burger King, and Starbucks are working to better personalize the restaurant experience to convince customers to spend more. McDonald's is making major investments to keep up in an increasingly digital world. On Monday, McDonald's announced it will acquire artificial-intelligence startup Dynamic Yield, a company focused on personalization and decision logic technology. McDonald's spent $300 million on the acquisition, people familiar with the deal told Business Insider. With the new tech, McDonald's drive-thru menus will be able to update instantaneously based on factors such as the time of day, weather, and trending menu items. The menu can also suggest additional items based on current selections, similar to how Amazon suggests additional items after an item has been added to customers' shopping carts. McDonald's began testing the technology at drive-thrus in 2018, and it plans to roll out the updated drive-thru menus across the United States this year. The chain is also planning to integrate the technology into self-order kiosks and its app. “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,” McDonald's CEO Steve Easterbrook said in a statement. Using tech to better personalize the restaurant experience is an increasing focus of industry giants.E-commerce companies such as Amazon have huge amounts of customer data that can be used to target specific people and convince them to buy certain things. With mobile apps and loyalty programs, chains such as McDonald's, Burger King, and Starbucks are attempting to similarly track customers, adjusting options to convince them to spend more.