Commentary

Post COVID-19, self-service kiosks will play a bigger role in limited service restaurants

COVID-19 has stimulated new capabilities for self-serve kiosks. Beyond the coronavirus, however, self-service technology continues to evolve to make the buying experience easier for more customers.

Image courtesy of iStock

June 1, 2020 by Ben Wheeler — President, KioskGUY.COM

One thing the COVID-19 outbreak has taught us is that technology has provided us with ways to make the restaurant more friction-free.

Last week, Kiosk Marketplace reported on a number of companies that are introducing temperature detection in conjunction with biometric identity verification to help restaurants and other retailers protect visitor and employee health as they reopen for business.

Also last week, part one in my two-part blog on how self-service can make restaurants omnichannel retailers offered a scenario of using kiosks in combination with AI powered loyalty apps to accomplish this goal. This week, in part two, I take a look at the longer term, post COVID-19 era, as self-service technology continues to evolve to make the buying experience easier for restaurant customers.

Why kiosks will be needed

Many self-service technology observers point to the growing importance of mobile order and pay, which in some cases supplants the need for self-service kiosks. While I agree that mobile ordering is gaining importance in making it easier and safer for customers to place orders, phones cannot do everything.

Kiosks, not phones, can provide physical deliverables, like a paper tag that goes on a bag for identification. Nor can phones print tags that customers can use for identification purposes when picking up an order.

The most promising scenario is the integration of kiosks and phones.

Little Caesars Pizza Portal allows customers to place their order via their phone, then pick up their order at the store from a kiosk using a code. The Pizza Portal is essentially a pickup locker similar to those being used by mass merchants. Interactive pickup lockers can verify a consumer's driver's license and spare them the inconvenience and potential health risk of waiting in line to retrieve their order.

One observer recently said, "I don't want people who use phones to touch my kiosk; their hands are filthy." I am still in shock! Tell me, who doesn't own a phone? Whose going to stand at the kiosk to stop them? And, why would someone who uses a phone all day every day think that a kiosk is a better solution than their phone? We need to create solutions that make kiosks valuable, not live in the stone ages of technology.

What about cash?

While technology has allowed us to largely remove cash from the operation, a certain customer segment still uses cash, and local governments are requiring merchants to accommodate these customers.

This presents a problem because a virus can live on cash for several days. We need a way to accept it without potentially exposing employees to pathogens and bacteria.

One option is to equip the kiosk with a cash recycler. This adds cost, but it still delivers the benefits of self-order and self-pay, such as improved order accuracy and upselling, and it protects our employees from potential exposure to the virus.

But what about those customers that are not as tech savvy? Are we going to ask some customers to go to a cashier to pay for the order they have placed on the kiosk?

The better solution here is to make sure there is at least one attended cashier station where cash customers can place their orders. Having six kiosks and one or possibly two cashier stations will work for most limited service restaurants. When dealing with cash, it is especially important to have sanitation wipes available for both customers and employees.

Other considerations

There are other considerations if you are looking to fully meet customer needs in a limited service restaurant.

Will it be accessible to the visually and hearing impaired? The principles of accessibility demand equal opportunities for the disabled customers to have a "normal experience." A visually or hearing impaired person can use all the same technologies or at least similar ones as everyone else. Fortunately, assistive technologies exist to enable the hearing and visually impaired to use kiosks.

Robotic technology will also play a role in making restaurants more automated. Back in April, Vending Times, Kiosk Marketplace's sister publication, reported on Basil Street Café's Automated Pizza Kitchen, a self-service robotic pizza kiosk exists that can take orders, bake pizzas, box them and deliver them to the consumer.

When envisioning a self-service solution, keep in mind what your customers' future needs will be. That way, your solution will have a longer life cycle.

Redbox was never supposed to last more than five years, yet, it has lasted almost 14 years in the marketplace. Why? Because it is targeted at a specific demographic of people, 18 to 25 years old, who want to get a movie for $1, even if they can rent it at home for $3.99.

The future is now. COVID-19 is changing the way we live and interact. There is a place for kiosks, voice AI, phone apps and all the cool things that could be used to make transactions seamless.

The future also requires us to think long-term. Giving your kiosk an ongoing capability to deliver product to your customer creates an opportunity for it to fit into your long-term plan.