restaurant kiosks
Instant gratification
Self-service restaurant kiosks and the millennial
generation – a match made in heaven that we
could all learn something from
By Dan Perrill, Wand Corp, www.wandcorp.com
Self-service restaurant kiosks are
booming in the limited service
restaurant industry, especially among
the millennial generation. There are
many reasons why, but before we jump
in to them, I want to share a quick story.
One of our Wand Rock Stars was
recently at a restaurant chain standing
in a long line waiting to order, and he
noticed something interesting and
snapped a photo showing two selfservice kiosks that are not being used
whatsoever by the many customers
standing in line to order. Well of course
our Rock Star walked over to the kiosk
and immediately placed his order. The
reason why? He’s a millennial.
Now, we’re not saying only
millennials order from kiosks because
that’s most definitely not the case.
However, self-service kiosks are
increasingly growing in popularity, and
one of the reasons for this is the desire
to appeal to the millennial audience.
As the example above proves, this
audience is constantly looking for ways
to use technology to make their lives
easier. And kiosks do just that.
The kiosk appeal
Here’s what you need to know about
using self-service restaurant kiosks to
appeal to the millennial generation;
they provide instant gratification – as
the example above illustrates, the use
of self-service kiosks means people can
quickly place their order and then find a
booth to get comfortable, relax a bit and
catch up on their Snapchats before their
food arrives. The millennial generation
is all about instant gratification; they’ve
grown up with it all their lives and have
come to expect it.
They increase speed-of-service –
we’ve all been stuck behind that person
in line who has no idea what they
want to order, or has an endless list of
questions to ask about menu items.
With kiosks you can move customers
through the line faster, millennials more
so than others because it’s likely they’ve
already looked up your menu online
and decided in advance what they are
going to order before they arrive.
They increase average ticket size –
with kiosks you don’t have to rely on
your staff to add on extra items or try to
upsell customers. You can simply have
questions pop up with prompts like 'Add
a cookie for $2?' or 'Upgrade to a large
for $0.50?' that allow you to instantly
increase ticket sizes. For the millennial
generation that is used to technology,
these decisions don’t slow down their
order process and are an easy way to
upsell products.
They’re super user-friendly – selfservice kiosks are smarter than they
have ever been before, and they’re
also extremely easy to use, especially
for millennials who have grown up
with computers and technology their
entire lives. Because of this it’s easy for
them to use self-service kiosks since
they aren’t leery of them or don’t get
confused like other generations might.
They’re looking for them – as our
opening example points out, not
only are millennials using self-service
kiosks, but they are actually seeking
them out. It’s no longer a nice surprise
if a restaurant has a kiosk; it’s a
disappointment if they don’t. It’s a new
ballgame ladies and gentlemen.
Besides the reasons stated above,
some of the other reasons to consider
adding self-service kiosks to your
restaurant include: reducing labour
costs by not needing to have as many
staff operating order lanes and lower
hardware costs by using tablets.
And keep in mind, though the
millennial generation has no issues
using kiosks, other customer groups
may experience problems, so it
may make sense to designate a
self-service kiosk attendant to help
walk customers through the system.
The good news about that is once
someone does it the first time it will be
so intuitive they will be more likely to
use the system again.
As you’re debating whether or
not to add self-service kiosks to your
restaurant, think about your targeting. If
you’re trying to appeal to the millennial
generation then kiosks are probably a
no-brainer. n
KIOSK solutions 29