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Kiosk Marketplace editor reviews 39 kiosk companies at National Restaurant Show

The National Restaurant Show set another record for kiosk introductions. Kiosk manufacturers have heeded the call from restaurants looking to automate the customer order to deliver a more satisfying guest experience, boost sales and make more efficient use of store labor.

Laura Miller of Kioware and Devin Van Marcke of Howard Technology Solutions present a self-serve QSR kiosk with new accessibility features..

May 27, 2019 by Elliot Maras — Editor, Kiosk Marketplace & Vending Times

The self-service drumbeat rattled Chicago's McCormick Place last week as attendees swarmed exhibits promising faster customer service. This year's National Restaurant Show showcased even more interactive kiosks (39 exhibitors) than last year's record-breaking 36 exhibitors. Less than a third of this year's companies (11 exhibitors) were repeats from last year, indicating the market continues to attract new interest.

Kiosk hardware and software manufacturers have heeded the call from restaurants looking to automate the customer order to deliver a more satisfying guest experience, boost sales and make more efficient use of store labor. And while established kiosk providers were once again well represented on the trade show floor, restaurant POS software companies have also entered the fray in a big way.

Once again, many of the kiosks on display integrate with other front-of-the-house and back-of-the-house touchpoints, such as online ordering, mobile ordering, loyalty rewards, customer messaging, order delivery, ingredient and nutrient content, kitchen display systems, inventory management, labor management and more. Foodservice operators have clearly recognized interactive kiosks as one part of a customer experience ecosystem rather than an isolated guest interface.

And while self-order kiosks dominated the presentations, artificial intelligence is allowing additional capabilities such as allergen lookup and guest location.

Following are highlights from the trade show floor listed in alphabetical order.

Acrelec Americas

Acrelec Americas presented a prototype of a drive-through kiosk with a digital menu board along with a speaker post that can enable speech-to-text ordering. The kiosk integrates with the restaurant's POS.

Tyler Marpes presents a drive-thru kiosk and a speaker post at the Acrelec booth.

ADUSA Inc.

ADUSA Inc. demonstrated its Qi.SO Self-Order Kiosk software on several Frank Mayer and Associates Inc. kiosks. Several enhancement to the software debuted at the show, including multi-language support, EZ Access ADA compliance and integration with Banyan Hills Technologies’ IoT/Device Management software. Also on display was a version of the software ADUSA Inc. is putting on food trucks for the US Army.

David Anzia of Frank Mayer and Associates Inc. presents a food truck self-order kiosk in the ADUSA booth.

Apex Supply Chain Technologies Inc.

Apex Supply Chain Technologies Inc. displayed an updated version of its "smart shelf" solution. Customers are notified through their apps when their orders are ready. The solution uses beacon technology to identify them when they are in proximity of the device, triggering their names and order locations on the device's display as the shelf with their individual order lights up.

The company's AXCESS 2000.H Pick-Up Station won a 2019 Kitchen Innovations Award from the National Restaurant Association as the industry's first heated, self-serve order pickup station.

Ben Savage presents the smart pickup station at the Apex Supply Chain Technologies booth.

Appetize Technologies Inc.

Appetize presented its Interact kiosk which is part of a comprehensive POS, inventory and analytics package. The company's kiosk line includes an Android-based solution, 15- and 20-inch landscape touchscreen options, countertop and freestanding models, and support for barcode scanners, printers and payment devices.

Jeff Brown presents the Appetize Interact kiosk.

Apptizer

Apptizer presented touchscreen kiosks that accept card swipe, dip and tap, EMV chip and signature and magstripe payments. The kiosks also include a thermal receipt printer and support Wi-Fi connectivity.

Stacey Chamberlain shows an Apptizer kiosk.

Autonetics Universe

Autonetics Universe, a robot manufacturer, demonstrated a moving interactive robot carrying trays with food and a display screen that featured chef demonstrations. The robot can take orders from customers and/or provide pricing and promotional information.

The Autonetics robot serves treats.

Birdcall

Birdcall, a quick-service natural foods restaurant based in Denver, developed its own self-order touchscreen kiosk with the intention of marketing its technology to other restaurants. The company has since decided to only offer the technology to its franchisees.

Peter Newlin demonstrates the Birdcall self-order kiosk.

Bite Kiosk

Bite Kiosk, a kiosk software provider, features facial recognition and a machine learning algorithm that automatically up-sells customers. The payment solutions are PCIDSS Level 1-certified to ensure credit card data is transmitted and stored securely. Clients can integrate their existing enterprise infrastructure from their POS. The kiosks can be fully customized.

Chris Sheng shows the Bite Kiosk.

Buzzy Booth

Buzzy Booth presented a selfie kiosk to allow restaurant customers to share their experiences and at the same time help market the restaurant. The kiosk also allows the restaurant to gather information about its guests and provides email and SMS marketing campaigns.

Regina Temple presents the Buzzy Booth selfie kiosk.

Certistar

The Certistar kiosk makes it easy for restaurants to serve guests with allergies. The software allows the restaurant to create and upload recipes, educate and empower the staff and store allergen and nutritional information in one, easy-to-use platform. The software also provides fast and extensive allergen searches.

Sandee Chernow shows the Certistar kiosk.

Doyon

Doyon's BakeSuite brings a smart screen to the food prep environment, where it integrates with a smart scale for real-time measurement of ingredients, a connected oven and a connected mixer. The software provides data analytics on a variety of KPIs, including ingredient-portioning, inventory management, energy consumption, preventive maintenance, labor performance and sales. The technology was presented in the Elo booth.

Luke Wilwerding of Elo presents the Doyon BakeSuite.

Eatos

The Eatos all-in-one restaurant management suite includes a self-order kiosk, POS, mobile payment, pay-at-table, online ordering, kitchen display system and back-of-house functions, such as payroll scheduling and analytics. The self-order kiosk integrates directly to the POS and KDS and enables SMS or long-range system order ready notifications.

Nicholas Brunner presents the Eatos self-order kiosk.

Eatsa

Eatsa, which provides self-order kiosks to restaurants, introduced its Spotlight pickup system consisting of modular shelves with sensors that display the customer's name in lights when their order is placed on the shelf for pickup. Any number of shelves can be configured in any pattern the restaurant wants.

Rose Kelly demonstrates the Eatsa Spotlight Pickup System.

Eflyn

The Eflyn self-order kiosk offers fully integrated payment processing and integrates with POS, mobile ordering and digital menu boards. Features include a capacitive multi-touch screen, a high brightness display, a high-speed universal barcode scanner, a front-loading printer, a near field communication reader and a built-in camera.

Dawar Rashid presents the Eflyn self-order kiosk.

ETouchmenu

Etouchmenu presented its Kiosk Plus kiosk, offering full digital menu ordering and EMV compliance and integrating with POS, kitchen printers, loyalty gift cards and payment processors, along with an SMS/email receipt feature.

Andy Lane presents the Kiosk Plus from ETouchmenu.

Eyecatch Networks

Eyecatch Networks, which specializes in digital signage software, demonstrated a point-of-sale kiosk promoting a restaurant offer. The software platform provides real-time updates for product pricing, description, imagery, inventory management and other functions. Eyecatch Networks partners with several kiosk hardware providers for restaurant kiosks.

Jean-Pierre Albrecht presents a kiosk displaying a special restaurant offer at the Eyecatch Networks booth.

Fingermark Ltd.

Fingermark Ltd. presented a beacon-enabled self-order kiosk that integrates with mobile devices but does not accept cash and, to remove cost, does not contain a receipt printer. The unit includes a facial recognition camera, a microphone and a speaker. Options include a payment terminal, webcam, printer, 2D scanner and RFID/NFC reader and Wi-FI connectivity. The unit was presented in the Intel booth.

Armin Beck presents the Fingermark self-order kiosk in the Intel booth.

Foodli

Foodli presented its self-order kiosk that displays menu items with high quality photos and allows for customized orders. The software allows customers to include tips, apply discounts and get texted receipts.

Rory Rogers demonstrates the Foodli software.

Forrester

Forrester, a research company, introduced a feedback terminal to allow restaurant guests to give real-time feedback. Guests answer one question about the services offered by pressing a button, maximizing the response rate and allowing companies to respond faster to service issues.

William Donohue and Jon Proctor show the Forrester feedback kiosk.

Foto ATM

Foto ATM provides a photo printing kiosk with facial recognition that can print photos from Instagram, smartphones and selfie cameras. The kiosk's built-in camera can take photos on the spot. The kiosks are installed with custom hashtags and photo frames and enable users to connect instantly to any smartphone via Wi-Fi to print photos.

Eric Michaels shows the Foto ATM.

Grubbr

Grubbr presented a complete restaurant automation ecosystem, connecting a self-order kiosk to a POS, mobile ordering app, online ordering, pay-at-table, digital menu boards and kitchen display system. A digital dashboard presents analytics on all the different touchpoints. The company also presented a micro-market self-checkout kiosk with facial recognition.

Bhavin Asher presents a new micro market self-checkout kiosk with facial recognition at the Grubbr booth.

Howard Technology Solutions

Howard Technology Solutions presented a self-serve QSR kiosk, called R-1, designed to be accessible, working with Elo, Panasonic, Audioeye, Pyramid Technologies Inc., Kioware and Storm Interface. The R1 achieves a high level of ADA compliance and allows restaurants to serve guests with a wide variety of disabilities.

Laura Miller of Kioware and Devin Van Marcke of Howard Technology Solutions present the self-serve QSR kiosk.

Lavu

Lavu presented its self-order restaurant kiosk that allows input of nutritional data and allergen information that can alert customers on gluten, soy and vegan options as well as calorie, fat, sugar and carbohydrate data. The kiosk accepts swiped, chipped and tapped payments and is PCI compliant to ensure customer information is safe and payments are encrypted.

Chris Trujillo presents Lavu's new self-order kiosk.

Mastercard/Zivelo

Mastercard, in partnership with Zivelo, demonstrated its AI-powered voice assistant and dynamic menu kiosk software. Guests order from an AI-powered voice-ordering assistant which integrates with a nearby menu display that automatically updates based on the guest's interaction with the kiosk. The display automatically customizes its message for a specific customer need or for external factors such as weather, time of day, seasonality and location.

Alonso Aranjo presents the AI powered voice assistant and dynamic menu board.

Masterwork Automodules Tech Corp.

The Cashier Series smart payment kiosk from Masterwork Automodules Tech Corp. features a banknote recycler with multiple drums, a coin module with a changer with 10 tubes, facial recognition, optional banknote bulk feeding, a QR code scanner and a 21.5-inch touch panel display.

Juljje Drasinover shows the Masterwork Automodules Cashier smart payment kiosk.

NCR Corp.

The NCR Corp. self-ordering kiosks allow guests to pay using gift cards and earn and redeem loyalty rewards at the point of sale. The software supports gift cards and loyalty coupons with an onboard scanner, and integrates with mobile wallets and EMV enabled payments.

Heather Bloodworth demonstrates the NCR self-order kiosk.

Ordercounter

Ordercounter presented a self-order kiosk as part of a comprehensive restaurant management solution that also supports loyalty programs, biometric identification, inventory management, online ordering, back office management, kitchen display systems, employee scheduling and mobile apps.

Vincent Mills presents the Ordercounter kiosk.

Ozzi

Ozzi presented a reusable food container collection system for foodservice. The customer returns their used reusable food container to the machine and inserts it in the front slot across a barcode reader. Once the used container is placed in the machine, it dispenses a credit token which the customer can use to receive a clean container. The system eliminates the use of disposable containers.

Warren Wright demonstrates the Ozzi food container recycling machine at the Ozzi booth.

Panasonic System Solutions Co. of North America

Panasonic System Solutions Co. of North America demonstrated a self-order kiosk for restaurants, an end-to-end platform managed at the enterprise level, allowing chain restaurants to efficiently deploy large installations. The kiosk features point-of-sale and payment integration, a flexible screen design, a responsive user interface, suggestive selling and order customization.

Brian Rowley presents Panasonic's self-order restaurant kiosk.

Palmer Digital Group

Palmer Digital Group presented the PDG QSRSO-23, a self-order kiosk designed for the QSR industry that is content and POS software agnostic. Integrated components include 23.8-inch touch display monitors, Telpar TG02H printers, BrightSign XT1144 media players, Ingenico card readers and an optional camera and proximity sensor. The kiosk is made from steel and can be painted any color and can also include printed decals and full printed wraps.

Chuck Lewis and Frank Pisano present a self-order kiosk from Palmer Digital Group in the BrightSign booth.

Pour My Beer

Pour My Beer presented its self-pour beer kiosk that allows customers to pour their own beer and only pay for the amount they pour. The guest receives an RFID card upon providing their ID, allowing them run a tab on a credit card. They place the RFID card in the slot above the desired tap which allows them to pour their own beer. As they begin pouring, the kiosk displays their expenditure in real time.

Edward Lazaruk presents the Pour My Beer kiosk.

Precision Software Innovations LLC

Precision Software Innovations presented a cloud-based POS software that supports self-order kiosks in addition to tablets, loyalty programs, third-party ordering, online ordering and marketing. The company also offers a 15.6-inch dual screen kiosk.

Casey Welby and Kate Lavelle present the Precision software.

Precitaste

Precitaste uses artificial intelligence and facial recognition to track customer movements in the restaurant and can promote products to guests based on customer data. The Customer Demand Analysis and Prediction tool anticipates and prepares high demand food items.

Charles Pynnonen presents a kiosk using the PreciTaste software.

Pyramid Computer GmbH

Pyramid Computer GmbH presented its Pyramid Location System that saves guests from having to wait in line after placing their order. The customer can order and pay at the self-order kiosk, which dispenses a puck. The customer then places the puck on the bar and chooses a seat while their order is prepared. The system will recognize their location when their order is ready, allowing a server to serve the customer accurately at their table. The system was presented in the Intel booth.

Larry Kron of Pyramid Computer GmbH demonstrates the Pyramid Location System kiosk at the Intel booth.

Stingray Business

Stingray Business demonstrated a self-order kiosk for restaurants. In addition to interactive kiosks, the company offers LED walls, holographic displays, digital signage and interactive mirrors. In addition to restaurants, clients include hospitality, retail, corporate and spa accounts.

Jeff Peter presents a self-order kiosk at the Stingray Business booth.

Titbit Inc.

Titbit Inc. presented its XPR POS cloud based, self-order kiosk that uses artificial intelligence and can support 50 languages. The kiosk can provide calorie information on individual items and can upsell customers based on their orders.

Nick Lagoo presents the XPR POS kiosk at the Titbit booth.

Tray

Tray's self-service kiosks integrate with existing POS systems. The company's recent partnership with MarketMan, a cloud-based inventory management software, combines item-level data from Tray's point of sale solution with inventory and ordering details, allowing users to streamline back of the house operations. The solution includes low inventory alerts, suggested orders, invoice scanning and recipe costing.

Christina Calhoun presents a self-serve kiosk at the Tray booth.

Ziosk

Ziosk presented a beer selector kiosk that allows customers to specify the beer qualities they are looking for. The unit also has a built-in "auto cut" printer that does not require any tugging of the receipt, along with a payment pin pad. The platform also enables alerts from the tablet to be delivered to the staff to respond to guest needs.

Leslie Trulove presents the Ziosk beer selector kiosk.

Zivelo LLC

Zivelo LLC presented a prototype of its X2 Slim kiosk which offers a larger screen size compared to pole-mounted tablets without taking up too much counter width. There is also an X2 Extended model that takes up the same amount of counter width but has a deeper component door to allow for additional components such as a printer.

Mike Moon presents a prototype of the X2 Slim kiosk.

About Elliot Maras

Elliot Maras is the editor of Kiosk Marketplace and Vending Times. He brings three decades covering unattended retail and commercial foodservice.