A Podcast Answers a Fast-Food Question That Nobody Is Asking – The New York Times:
Maybe you are too young to remember. Perhaps you forgot. Or there’s a chance you’ve blocked it. But the home of the Big Mac began selling pizza in the mid-1980s, hoping to grab market share from national pie chains.
McDonald’s acquires AI company trying to automate the drive-thru:
“McDonald’s said Tuesday it has agreed to acquire a company that is trying to automate the drive-thru. It’s the fast-food giant’s third tech-focused deal this year.
Apprente, a Silicon Valley company founded in 2017, uses artificial intelligence to understand drive-thru orders, which could cut down on service times. McDonald’s said the technology also could be used someday in its self-order kiosks and mobile app.”
*Not only can technology be used to show people different menu items based on time of day to increase order size, AI could be used to reduce labor costs.
McDonald’s U.S. fast-food market share has eroded. Last year’s 14.7 percent was down from 17.4 percent five years ago, according to researcher Euromonitor.
— Read on www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-06-26/-seinfeld-ploy-could-bring-back-mcdonald-s-missing-morning-mojo
RetailWire Discussion: McD’s first loyalty program will come with free fries:
“My Starbucks Rewards has 11.1 million members”
*Interesting. First time I’ve seen a number for this.
D.L. Damore 