More on McD's Knows What You Want

More on the McDonald's drive through idea.   Less friction, more sales.  Note plan to roll to all drive-throughs. Looking forward to see it in action.

McDonald’s drive-thru AI knows what you want before you orde by Matthew Stern in Retailwire with further expert comments.

Implementing in-store touch screen ordering kiosks was only the beginning for McDonald’s in efforts to modernize its operations with technology. One of the chain’s recently announced experiments involves using artificial intelligence (AI) to enable the drive-thru to recommend what customers might want before they place an order.

At some locations, McDonald’s has been testing a solution that recognizes the license plate of a customer in the drive-thru and uses that information to provide AI-based recommendations of menu items, as reported by The New York Times. The technology (which requires permission from customers) takes into account the customer’s previous order history when populating suggestions on the drive-thru touchscreen.

The solution adds another element of personalization to the already dynamic new drive-thru touchscreen at some McDonald’s locations, which tailor product recommendations based on big-picture factors like weather, wait time and item popularity. McDonald’s says that recommendation algorithms have already demonstrated an unspecified increase in order size and the chain plans to roll them out to all its drive-thrus in the U.S. by the end of the year.  ....  '

McDonald's Use of Sales AI

Note the use of sensor acquisition to drive sales category with AI methods.  Lots of data there, and many different kinds of components.   Have always respected McDonald's tech work.

Would You Like Fries With That? McDonald's Already Knows the Answer
The New York Times
By David Yaffe-Bellany

McDonald's is acquiring companies that develop artificial intelligence and machine learning to make the company more like Amazon. Its incorporation of technology is aimed at reversing its recent loss of customers, resulting in restaurants closing and sales declining. The company is incorporating technologies such as digital boards that promote its products, taking into account environmental factors like the weather and the length of the wait for service. The company has tested algorithms at its drive-throughs that capture license-plate numbers, so the restaurant can list recommended purchases personalized to a customer's previous orders, as long as the person agrees allow the fast-food chain to store that data. McDonald's also recently tested voice recognition at certain outlets, with the goal of deploying a faster order-taking system. Regarding the use of new technologies, the company’s CIO, Daniel Henry, said, “You just grow to expect that in other parts of your life ... We don’t think food should be any different than what you buy on Amazon."  ... '

Automated Order Taking

Decreasing errors, wait times,  learning patterns to anticipate demand.

Automated Order Takers May Reshape Future of Drive-Through Restaurants
Medill Reports    By Yixuan Xie

Three artificial intelligence (AI) companies are developing AI-powered voice assistants to improve order-taking at drive-through restaurants. Valyant AI has piloted one assistant to take breakfast orders at an eatery in Colorado, which experienced a 10% to 25% reduction in average wait time. Valyant AI CEO Rod Carpenter said, "While our AI is carrying on a conversation with the customer, the employees are listening to the exchange and actually preparing the food." Meanwhile, Encounter AI's assistant is designed to improve order accuracy, so food allergies and other potential problems are not overlooked; Encounter AI's Derrick Johnson said the AI's accuracy is continuously improving via machine learning. Meanwhile, the software firm Clinc hopes to augment the voice control capabilities of drive-through windows with its own AI, which learns from the different ways people order by analyzing sentence structure. .... "