For decades, restaurant-goers have gone to fast food restaurants to order comfort food served up with convenience and speed. A self-ordering kiosk is another way that fast food restaurants can offer even more convenience to their customers, yet many owners are reluctant to install these machines.
Of course, there is some effort involved in installing self-ordering kiosks. It costs some money to install them, and it may take customers a while to get used to them. However, they more than make up for any shortcomings with their efficiency and ability to generate revenue. If you are still wondering if you should install self-ordering kiosks or not, the following reasons may persuade you to install them.
- Prevent Miscommunication
In a busy setting such as a fast-food restaurant, miscommunication can happen easily. A cashier can mishear a customer’s order or mix up two different requests when communicating with the cook. As a result, customers sometimes receive the wrong order, which causes dissatisfaction and delays the kitchen as the staff scrambles to replace the order.
There is very little possibility of miscommunication with a self-ordering kiosk. Customers input their orders themselves, and the kitchen receives a computer-generated ticket. The automated process reduces the possibility of human error. Customers can double-check that they entered the correct order before they pay. Self-ordering kiosks do a lot to reduce one of the biggest causes of customer dissatisfaction, which is inaccurate orders, and take some of the pressure off of staff who are working in a busy environment.
- Improve Restaurant Efficiency
A self-ordering kiosk improves the efficiency of a fast-food restaurant in more ways than just preventing incorrect orders. It improves the overall speed of service, especially during rush hours. Customers will have to spend less time waiting in a queue to order their food if they have the option of going to a cashier or a kiosk. Kiosks tend to process orders faster than human cashiers as well.
Since a self-ordering kiosk can replace the work of at least one cashier (if not several), it will also help your restaurant improve the efficiency of your labour cost. You can redirect more workers to the kitchen or cleaning crews instead of requiring staff at the cash register.
- Increase Orders
By increasing the efficiency of your restaurant, you will increase your capacity to process more orders. This may also ensure that customers will choose your fast food restaurant over another if they know that they can rely on rapid service. However, this is not the only way that a self-ordering kiosk can increase your revenue.
Besides increasing the number of customers that you can serve in a day, a self-ordering kiosk can increase the amount that each customer spends. Customers using an automated self-ordering kiosk are more likely to add extra items to their order on impulse. The layout of kiosks, which often includes tempting photos of menu items, and the ease of processing an order makes it easier to upsell. Some kiosks even suggest menu items to customers that are targeted based on which items they’ve already ordered.
- Make Customers Happy
The most important reason why you should invest in a self-ordering kiosk is that it improves customer satisfaction. Particularly in today’s world of technological convenience, customers expect the highest degree of efficiency and convenience, even more so when they go to a fast-food restaurant whose major draw is its speed.
A self-ordering kiosk allows you to increase the speed of your restaurant’s service and eliminate barriers when placing orders. Self-ordering kiosks are also more accessible to customers of different abilities and needs, for example, because all information about menu items including allergens is at their fingertips. Customers can also customise their food freely and take their time doing so. As more and more fast-food restaurants install self-ordering kiosks, customers may come to expect them from your location as well.
Investing in at least one self-ordering kiosk has the potential to grow your fast food restaurant and increase your advantage over competitors. Self-ordering kiosks increase the efficiency of service by preventing miscommunication. They also help you retain customers who are used to convenience and even increase customer orders by upselling menu items.
Most importantly, you do not want to fall behind compared to your competitors. Self-ordering kiosks are more and more popular, especially in fast-food restaurants that know that their main draw is convenience. Patrons, especially younger visitors, may even privilege a location that has self-ordering kiosks over one that does not.
Installing self-ordering kiosks will grant your restaurant an edge over competitors and help you keep up with the latest developments in restaurant technology, which is particularly important in this day and age.
