The benefits of kiosks in today’s restaurants

Recently our Managing Director, Scott Muncaster, spoke to The Telegraph about the benefits of kiosks in the digitally enabled restaurants of today’s hospitality industry. Scott explained why they give operators an edge in what is an increasingly competitive market, but also the need to be mindful of customers’ needs and expectations when implementing any technology. Below, we spoke to Scott about this in more detail to hear his views on why kiosks are so popular among operators, the many benefits they present, and also why data holds the key to making sure kiosks are right for your business and customers.

Q: What are the main benefits of kiosks, and why do they work so well in specific settings?

SM: “The main benefit of kiosks for customers is that they improve efficiency of service. Whether it’s in a restaurant or a supermarket, people are able to order more quickly, without the need for staff involvement, freeing them up to focus on other areas of the customer journey. From a business' perspective, they take pressure off of staff during busy periods, as well as allowing them to have less staff on shift, improving the bottom line. A huge benefit is also the kiosk’s ability to deliver consistent experiences and information to customers. Regardless of how busy a service is, or what sort of day the staff are having, if a customer uses the kiosk, they will always get the right information about menu items, ingredients, offers, allergens, nutrition, and other dietary considerations such as vegetarian, vegan or gluten free options. It is crucial for today’s restaurants, in what is an increasingly competitive market, to provide consistent experiences which are accurate and deliver what customers want. Kiosks can do this.

“The reason kiosks work so well in restaurants, particularly in QSRs, is that they speed up ordering. You can now have four or more kiosks taking orders at any given time, as well as one or two staff manning the counters. This means that, despite reducing the number of staff by 66%, for example, the business can still facilitate the same number of orders at the same speed of service. This is critical for businesses operating in the current tough hospitality climate.

“They also help by making orders more accurate. When ordering through a person, human error can come into play. However, with a kiosk, the customer has input what they’d like to eat and drink. This mitigates wastage on making incorrect orders, both from a time and monetary perspective.”

Q: Are kiosks right for every restaurant setting?

SM: “Kiosks can have a huge impact on reducing wage costs. However, this should never come at the expense of the customer's experience. The reality is that certain technology isn’t always right for every business. A fine dining restaurant for example, likely isn’t going to do too well if they start asking people to order through a kiosk or QR code. But, in other restaurant settings, such as Pizza Hut, this may actually be what their customer base wants. The important thing for businesses is that data is at the core of their decision making; analyse, test, learn and deploy changes faster, in turn making the process and experience more efficient."

Q: Why are kiosks so popular with QSRs, and will other types of restaurants follow suit?

SM: “The labour and skills shortage is certainly having a big impact on the uptake of kiosks in the restaurant sector. Unfortunately, there is a lack of skilled hospitality staff, and those that do fit the bill are in such high demand that most businesses are struggling to source and retain them. QSRs were obviously the first to adopt the kiosk model, and in those types of settings kiosks do make the most sense. However, we are starting to see the technology spill over into casual dining as well. Research we conducted in 2023 uncovered that 62% of the British public would consider trying a fully robotic restaurant experience and 56% would consider an AI or automated self-service system such as kiosks. In fact, one in 10 Brits even said they would be happy to visit a fully automated fine dining restaurant. This highlights the huge appetite from customers for kiosks and other self-service technology, and although I don’t expect fine dining establishments to flock to kiosks, it is likely that, in the future, these systems will become more present in every type of restaurant.”

Q: Are there any factors restaurants need to take into consideration before adopting kiosks?

SM: “Any time a business changes how it interacts with its customers, there is always the potential to miss a select group of customers and alienate them accidentally, and this isn’t any different with kiosks. To mitigate this, businesses need to ensure they diversify the ways in which a customer can order, pay and engage with the brand. I have seen examples where an elderly person has wanted to order a coffee from the counter at a QSR with cash, and they’ve been told they need to order through the kiosk. This is counter-intuitive and adds unnecessary headaches for both the customer and the staff. There must always be an option for customers to order in other ways that don't require the use of technology, so as not to exclude certain sections of a business' customer base.

“The experience a guest has through the technology must be accessible and inclusive, and maintenance and hygiene controls must be upheld.”

Q: Supermarkets were the first to implement kiosks, but some have rolled back the technology; do you think we will see a similar trend in the restaurant sector?

SM: “Implementing technology is all about balance. In supermarkets, self-checkouts can increase productivity and allow customers with smaller shops to get in and out more quickly, and with less staff on duty. However, for people with full trolleys, the rise of kiosks could make their experience more arduous, with fewer full-size checkouts and longer queues. These sentiments have recently been echoed by Morrisons Chief Executive Rami Baitiéh, who has begun rolling back kiosks in some of the company’s locations.

“In the restaurant sector, the issue is slightly different. When someone chooses to visit a restaurant, they often select where they want to go based on their previous experiences. This is why it is so important for restaurants to stand out from the crowd, deliver accurate and efficient services, and tailor their approach based on the needs of individual customers. For this reason, I can only see more diversification within the sector. Yes, this will mean more kiosks, but also increased emphasis on having good people to uphold standards of service and help those customers who would rather speak to a person.”

If you’d like to hear more about how kiosks can help enhance experiences for your customers, get in touch with one of our team at [email protected] or +44 (0) 1865 632643 to discuss the benefits of our specialist experience management system, three rocks® XMS.