McDonald's Speeds Up Drive-Thru Ordering with Voice Based Technology

With Apprente's technology, McDonald's will have faster, simpler and more accurate order taking at the Drive Thru with future potential to incorporate into mobile ordering and kiosks.

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McDonald's has acquired Apprente, an early stage leader in voice-based conversational technology. 

“Building our technology infrastructure and digital capabilities are fundamental to our Velocity Growth Plan and enable us to meet rising expectations from our customers, while making it simpler and even more enjoyable for crew members to serve guests" said Steve Easterbrook, President and Chief Executive Officer, McDonald’s Corporation. “Apprente’s gifted team, and the technology they have developed, will form McD Tech Labs, a new group integrated in our Global Technology team that will take our culture of innovation one step further.”

The agreement advances employee and customer facing innovations while strengthening the chain's technology. With Apprente's technology, McDonald's will have faster, simpler and more accurate order taking at the Drive Thru with future potential to incorporate into mobile ordering and kiosks. 

McDonald’s commitment to innovation has long inspired our team. It was quite clear from our various engagements that McDonald’s is leading the industry with technology” said Itamar Arel, Ph.D., co-founder of Apprente and Vice President of McD Tech Labs. “Apprente was borne out of an opportunity to use technology to solve challenging real world problems and we’re thrilled to now apply this to creating personalized experiences for customers and crew.” 

Read Next: McDonald’s to Acquire Dynamic Yield

The investment builds on several key technology initiatives McDonald's has introduced recently.

In April, Mcdonald's acquired Dynamic Yield, a leader in personalization and decision logic technology. The chain is utilizing the decision technology across 8,000 restaurants to provide an even more personalized customer experience. Varying outdoor digital Drive Thru menu display food based on time of day, weather, current restaurant traffic and trending menus. In addition, the decision technology can also instantly suggest and display additional items to a customer's order based on their current selections. 

“Technology is a critical element of our Velocity Growth Plan, enhancing the experience for our customers by providing greater convenience on their terms,” says Steve Easterbrook, President and Chief Executive Officer, McDonald’s Corporation. “With this [Dynamic Yield] 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 personalized experiences for our customers.”  


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