Yum! Brands Makes Second Tech Acquisition This Month

Earlier this month Yum! Brands announced it agreed to acquire the artificial intelligence-based consumer insights and marketing performance analytics business of Kvantum to enhance its ability to make data-driven marketing decisions.

This article was originally published by Market Crumbs.com.

The move was the latest step in Yum! Brands’ global technology strategy to provide a seamless experience across mobile, online, delivery and restaurant operations.

Yum! Brands—the parent of KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and The Habit Burger Grill, didn’t waste long to make its next technology acquisition as the company announced yesterday it has agreed to acquire omnichannel ordering and marketing platform company Tictuk Technologies.

Tictuk specializes in conversational commerce, which lets users place orders and interact with brands through social media platforms such as WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Telegram as well as through SMS, QR codes and email. Yum! Brands says it has already deployed Tictuk’s platform in about 900 KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell restaurants across 35 countries as the acquisition will enable them to scale the platform to more franchisees.

“As we navigate a consumer landscape reshaped by the events of 2020, we continue to intensify our focus on leveraging our scale and reinforcing our growth model with investments in digital and technologies to enhance the customer and employee experience, strengthen restaurant unit economics and enable our brands and franchisees to compete and win in a rapidly changing world,” Yum! Brands CEO David Gibbs said.

Yum! Brands says digital sales jumped by 45% in 2020 to a record $17 billion as the company pivots its business model to adapt to an environment where customers are no longer dining in.

As part of the deal, Tictuk will continue to offer its platform to existing clients. Both of this month’s all-cash acquisitions will have an immaterial impact to Yum! Brands’ 2021 financial results but the company says they should accelerate the ability to grow digital sales globally.

With two technologies deals in the last few weeks alone, Yum! Brands is focused on beefing up its technology to adapt to the changing restaurant landscape.