65% of customers prefer to visit a restaurant that has self-order kiosks over those that don’t.
Now, why do your customers prefer self-order kiosks at your restaurant?
Tillster Self-Ordering Kiosk Index
We dive into specifics further down in the post but perhaps the main reason is due to convenience. As soon as a customer enters your restaurant, they can immediately visit a kiosk, scan your menu and place their order in seconds without ever having to interact with your staff. The speed and control self-order kiosks offer your guests is becoming more the norm and preferred way to order in the quick-service industry by many who want to get in, get out and start enjoying your food as quick as possible.
In this post, we explore what self-order kiosks are, why guests are gravitating to brands that have integrated kiosks as part of their in-store dining experience, and the many benefits self-order kiosks can have on your business.
What are self-order kiosks & what do they do?
7 Ways self-order kiosks can benefit your restaurant brand
Lower operating costs
Decrease wait time
Increase check size
Increase staff productivity
Reduce order errors
Learn about your customers
Protect your in-house staff & customers
What are self-order kiosks & what do they do?
Self-order kiosks are a self-service ordering system where a customer can place and pay for an order without having to interact with your restaurant’s in-store staff. Coming in a variety of different shapes and sizes, kiosks can range from large, free-standing structures, similar to a vending machine, to individual tablets. Guests are taken through a digital ordering experience from building their order to payment, and pick-up where they can be introduced to various promotions and up-sells they may not have been aware of prior.
7 Ways Self-Order Kiosks Can Benefit Your Restaurant Brand
Lower operating costs
Running a restaurant is no cheap task. Between food and building expenses plus servicing your customers, costs can build up in a hurry if you aren’t keeping a watchful eye on your operations.
This raises the question, “do you want to lower your restaurant operating costs?” Obviously, yes.
Self-order kiosks can be one of the most effective restaurant technology solutions to help lower your day-to-day operating expenses. How? Kiosks enable restauranteurs to inject more automation into their on-premise ordering procedures by putting control into the hands of their customers and reducing the number of staff required to take and place orders.
Quick disclaimer, kiosks should never replace your in-house staff (ever!).
What we are saying is, kiosks allow brands to lower the number of touchpoints needed to get an order placed with the restaurant, reducing service costs. And with more in-house orders being placed by guests, you create more flexibility with your already short staff to do more with fewer crew members, making your operating cash work smarter and better for you.
Decrease wait time
Nothing aggravates guests more than long wait times.
Did you know if the line to order is longer than 5 people, 75% of customers would prefer to order from a kiosk?
Or, if the line is longer than 10 guests, 91% would want to order at a kiosk.
Kiosks create a more streamlined ordering process by putting the ordering control in the hands of your guests. With self-order kiosks, guests can build their order, submit it to your kitchen staff and pay for it just in a few steps. From there, guests can easily step aside or find a seating area, clearing the way for your next customer, while they wait to pick-up their food up at one of your designated counters.
By lowering the wait time, you strengthen the on-premise experience for your customers, which will empower them to revisit your restaurant more often and refer more friends and family to your store.
Increase check size
Want to increase your average check size by 10-15%?
With self-order kiosks, the opportunities to bulk up your average check size are endless. Kiosks are a highly effective tool to showcase your high-margin items to your guests based on their buying habits when they are building their orders. They also relieve the burden of your staff having to continually hard-sell guests of add-ons, value meals, and sides when taking their order (or not remembering to do so).
Instead, kiosks create a more relaxed buying experience because the guest is in complete control of their order. In turn, recommendation engines can go to work and present customers with targeted upsell and cross-sell items like fries, desserts, or value meals without the guest feeling uncomfortable or overwhelmed in the process.
Learn more about the key benefits, and ROI kiosks can have on your restaurant with a comprehensive kiosk guide.
Increase staff productivity
Having trouble servicing customers and maintaining store cleanliness because your restaurant is understaffed? In the post-pandemic environment, staff efficiency is a key pain point for brands of all shapes and sizes.
Kiosks can help alleviate some of the stress.
By reducing the number of front-end staff required to take orders with kiosks, you can reallocate staff resources to other essential tasks around your restaurant to ensure a quality guest experience is had by all. Staff can now complete more tasks in their shift and support other areas of the business where labor shortage is also an issue, helping you maintain quality service, doing more with fewer employees, and saving on labor costs.
Want a FREE self-ordering kiosk demo? Contact us today.
Reduce order errors
Get an order wrong and you may lose a customer (or worse, customers) forever.
Nothing puts a thorn in your guests’ side perhaps more than a wrong order. And nothing skyrockets your food costs like incorrect orders. Plain and simple, no one likes order errors.
Kiosks can drastically reduce the number of daily order errors because your guests have complete control over the building of their order. Without the influence of staff keying in incorrect items or miscommunication between customer and employee, the chances of wrong orders have all but been eliminated.
In the wake of Covid-19, order accuracy has never been a higher priority. With fewer opportunities to attract guests to your store and interact with them, it is imperative to get orders correct the first time to deliver a quality guest experience.
Learn more about your customers
Are you a data geek?
If you aren’t by now, it’s time you become one. Embracing and learning from the data you capture from your customers can drastically separate you from your competition when it comes to targeting and marketing for new business. Being able to build a 360-degree view of your customers can help you invest your marketing dollars smarter and drive more profits for your restaurant.
Kiosks enable you to collect a vast array of data touchpoints that you can use in your day-to-day to more accurately recommend and upsell customers coming into your restaurant. By analyzing vital statistics like most popular menu items, preferred item combinations or favorite condiments, you can create a higher margin digital ordering experience that your customers love.
Protect your in-house staff & customers
We understand the safety of your staff and customers always comes first. In our post-pandemic world, self-order kiosks are perhaps the most effective in-store solution that can help maintain a safe ordering environment for both staff and guests.
By keeping your guests stationed at one kiosk location by themselves and at a safe distance from your staff, you’re limiting the interactions at your store thus greatly lowering the chances of spreading Covid-19. Not only do self-order kiosks present a monetary value for your business, but they can also help structure your restaurant to keep its doors open and operate in our Covid environment.
