FAST FOOD GIANT OR TECH LEADER?“What we hadn’t done is begun to connect
the technology together and get the various
pieces talking to each other,” McDonald’s CEO
Steve Easterbrook told Wired in a recent interview.
“We’ve never had an issue in this business with
a lack of data,” says Easterbrook. “It’s drawing the
insight and the intelligence out of it.”
And while many customers are hesitant to
offer personal data to companies, others aren’t. So
imagine what McDonald’s could do if customers
are willing to let stores personalize the experience
even further.
Here are just a few ideas, all of which Easterbrook
himself has floated:
l using license-plate recognition to identify a
specific customer as he or she approaches a store
and then adjusting the digital menu based on that
customer’s purchase history
l making personalized offers to customers via
McDonald’s’ mobile app
l using predictive analytics to inform kitchen
and supply chain decisions
Greater application
Now, imagine how profitable changes like these
would influence the fast food industry as a whole.
Then, there’s one more interesting factor about
the plans McDonald’s has for Dynamic Yield.
According to Wired, the company will continue to
run independently after the
acquisition. On its website,
Dynamic Yield has a client
list of over 180 companies,
including Ikea, Sephora,
Fendi and a number of
other major retailers.
With the resources of the world’s most popular
fast food restaurant, Dynamic Yield could take its
product to new levels. That means, not only would
McDonald’s benefit from a host of retailers’
experiences, but that those retailers would
essentially be getting their tech insights from a
company owned by McDonald’s.
Now, who would have seen that coming?
As for exactly how far-reaching the new
McDonald’s acquisition will prove to be, I guess we’ll
just have to wait and see.
But one thing’s for certain:
McDonald’s is ready to spend to find out.Vocabulary Focus
© Cambridge University Press
2008acquisition (n) [;,kwI:zI{/n] something such as a building,
another company or a piece of land that is bought by a company,
or the act of buying it
innovator (n) [:In/;vet-]
innovate (v) [:In/;vet] to introduce changes and new ideas
up-to-date (adj) [;<pt/:det] modern, recent or containing the
latest information
float (v) [flot] to suggest a plan or an idea to be considered
a host of (phr) a large number of something
far-reaching (adj) [:fAr:rit{I?] Something far-reaching has a
great influence on many people or things.102030152505Specialized Terms
decision logic (n) 決策邏輯
predictive analytics (n) 預測分析More Information
kiosk (n) [:ki;Ask]（訂票或買食物的）販售機 a small
machine used for making purchases, such as tickets or
food, or to access information