Self-service kiosk

 

Payments, Technology The QSR sector has been the quickest to adopt technology such as self-service kiosks, and are so far reaping the benefits Mobile order and payments may be becoming more prevalent in the casual dining sector, but those in the QSR space, such as the fast food giants, have been turning to self-service kiosks and drive-thrus to improve and heighten the customer experience. McDonald’s, in particular, has led the way in self-service kiosks but has since been joined by other groups, including Leon.

 

 Leon began working with Vita Mojo in January 2020 trialling kiosks in its restaurants and they are now the primary in-store sales channel for a number of its sites, which now process 85-95% of all orders digitally. Not only have customers taken to using them, as has been found when using mobile payments, they tend to spend more when using them, with Leon reporting an increase of 10-15% in average transaction value compared to traditional POS transactions thanks to upsells and basket recommendations. It’s not alone. McDonald’s, which began rolling out kiosks in the US locations as early as 2015 and which has installed them in much of its estate over the past five years, has also reported rises in spend per head at its restaurants from people using its kiosks.

 

 

 Pyramid Computer, the German-based company that supplies kiosks to a number of fast food brands including McDonald’s, says that some of its customers are even seeing a 60% rise in average customer spend compared to using a cashier. Pyramid’s kiosks are powered by Intel Core processors, which Intel says enables them to do more than just take customer orders and payments. “Intel is involved in many Epossystems for restaurant operations,” say Farhaan Mohideen, product strategy and IOT spokesperson at Intel. “Wherever you see kitchen screens, menu boards, kiosk and drive-thus our technology is there.”

 

 

 

The company creates references to show its end partners which they can then use to go and build an end-to-end solution. “Companies will look at how we’ve used technology to solve certain problems so that’s where Intel is important. “We are showing them some of the accelerators we’ve used and some of the hardware and software in order to create the solution – we look at devices like POS, signage and kiosks. We are creating an ecosystem that solves real business problems, getting the solution and bringing them to market.” One such innovation is touchless kiosks. With concerns over the hygiene of touch screen kiosks in QSR restaurants, with staff having to be on hand to clean them after every use during the pandemic, Intel is working with kiosk provider Acrelec to bring a touchless one to the market. It is looking at installing depth cameras in the kiosks that sense when someone is making hand movements, meaning that dishes can be chosen by customers simply hovering their hand over a selection rather than pressing a screen. Intel is also working on similar technology for drive-thrus, where cameras can identify the number of cars waiting in a queue and try and regulate them automatically. “If you can make sure the queue is no longer than three cars it will make it easier for a customer to make a decision to join it,” says Mohideen. By systems being integrated and talking to each other, queue data can be transferred to kitchen management systems to instruct servers the volume of items needed to prepare in order to make sure the cars move quickly. The integration game Such integration is where ordering and payment technology really comes into its own. In sushi restaurant chain YO!’s case, not only is its ordering technology linked to its Monk conveyor belts, the company also switched to Vita Mojo’s EPOS and kitchen display screen which moved it to become a single view operation that aggregates all direct orders, as well as those from delivery platforms such Deliveroo, for accurate and timely fulfilment. The system also integrates with Fourth stock management, Toggle for gift cards and Yumpingo, which tracks consumer sentiment.