Touchscreen Kiosks Take Over
More restaurants are adding the digital machines to boost accuracy, sales and speed.
Jan 30, 2019
READING, Penn. – The unattended retail kiosk industry is booming, growing to close to $9 billion, according to Frost & Sullivan. “Increased demand for automation and customer service and satisfaction is driving the growth of self-service kiosks globally,” according to a Frost & Sullivan report.
Nowhere has the touchscreen kiosk been more popular than at restaurants and convenience stores, the Reading Eagle reports. Chains like Applebee’s Buffalo Wild Wings, Chili’s, Olive Garden and Red Robin all have tablets tableside for customers to place orders, play games and pay the bill.
In 2014, Panera brought the first kiosks in stores and saw profits soar within three years of the kiosk installations. McDonald’s has started adding full-service menu kiosks to all U.S. locations, while Wendy’s has added similar kiosks to around 1,000 units. Overall, food kiosks grab around 20% of the kiosk market, according to PYMNTS.com commissioned study.
The modern food ordering kiosk can trace its inception back to a Sheetz in Martinsburg, W.Va., managed by Earl Springer. In 1986, Springer put order forms listing sandwich ingredients on the counter with golf pencils for customers to put in their own, personalized order. Sales skyrocketed, according to Travis Sheetz, COO. “(Springer) was really excited about it,” Sheetz said. “I think he was trying to be more efficient with the labor.”
In 1993, Sheetz began installing “made-to-order” touchscreens in place of the paper forms, becoming one of the first major chains to utilize order kiosks. The touchscreens increased sales as high as 20% in some locations, which meant the chain had to add nearly twice as many employees per store to keep up with the volume, according to Sheetz.
