Article
Restaurants look for ROI in self-service
Self-service can be a solution when faced with higher costs.
April 6, 2008
Self-service can be a perfect solution for quick-service and fast-casual restaurant owner-operators who are faced with increasing competition, higher costs and eroding margins. It allows them to increase the average check amount and improve customer satisfaction at a low cost.
"We have customers who have experienced a 15 to 25 percent increase in average check amount at the kiosk due to the presentation of options, upgrades and selectively placed suggestive cross sells," said Madeline Pantalone, EMN8's vice president of innovation and market strategies. "And, a December 2007 independent market study found that quick-service guests who used EMN8's kiosk to order and pay for their food are loyal users. They like the convenience, presentation of choices using graphics and friendliness or fun factor of the solution."
How to deploy self-service effectively
The biggest challenge to the success of self-service in QSRs and fast casuals is guest usage. Where there is usage, the return on investment makes the adoption of self-service a good business decision for the owner operator. The key to usage is threefold.
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First, gain the support of the restaurant manager to make the kiosk the de facto ordering station. Integrate self-service into the restaurant's operation.
"We have seen usage increase to about 70 percent of walk-in guests when the manager understands the benefits and the crew encourages guests to use the kiosk," Pantalone said. "Moving a cashier from behind the counter to host multiple kiosks will generate usage and faster adoption."
Second, provide an intuitive, engaging and fast user interface that the QSR or fast casual guest enjoys using.
A significant challenge in designing a user interface is achieving a balance among promoting products, providing options and speed of service. Early adaptors provided feedback leading to daypart menus that automatically present an alternate menu — that doesn't display all the options — during burst periods. Guests who want to customize still can, but they need to seek it rather than have it automatically presented.
"The major brands spend millions of dollars to promote their brand and present their products in an appealing way," Pantalone said. "The kiosk is an extension of that effort. The presentation of the menu, food images and fun animation all work together to engage the guest and allow him to quickly order what he wants the way he wants it. It is important to select an experienced vendor to design the user interface and to obtain guest feedback to improve it."
NEXTEP SYSTEMS, a provider of automated ordering solutions, echoed the sentiment that interfaces are very important. Tommy Woycik, NEXTEP's president, said he has seen many interfaces that resemble point-of-sale systems rather than a self-order solution.
"They're clunky," he said. "The user interface always needs to be exceptionally intuitive, no matter if it's a deli kiosk or a buffet kiosk."
Third, it's important to select the right hardware.
The physical kiosk has evolved so that it can be placed strategically within a restaurant floor plan without a large footprint. Early trials indicate that the less "ATM-like" and more "order station-like" the self-service point, the better. Stand-alone credit card kiosks can fill that order and are available from a large number of manufacturers. However, most QSR restaurants have a significant percentage of cash purchases.
Early models of kiosks that accept cash have had their share of performance problems but, as manufacturers have improved the design of the components, cash kiosks have become far more reliable, Pantalone said.
"Self-service kiosks need to be reliable," she said. "If the kiosks are nonoperational, this can impact the restaurant's operation. We've worked with our customers, suppliers and manufacturer to design and build a very solid kiosk that supports the demanding QSR environment and allows for multiple payment modes including cash, payment card and coupon."
It's also important for the self-order kiosks to be monitored remotely, Woycik said. Since most, if not all, QSRs do not employ IT professionals, it's necessary to allow the kiosks to be updated and even repaired from an off-site facility.
"When you go into a quick-service restaurant, there is grease, dust and more room for the contamination of your device," he said. "When you deploy in a quick-serve restaurant, you can expect that no one there really can help your system. It has to be completely self-sufficient."
This story is excerpted from the free how-to guide, "The Self-Order Kiosk: Using self-service to sell faster and less expensively in your restaurant."
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