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Gone are the heady days of cashiers asking if you want your order "supersized."
Not only has the infamous upgrade gone by the wayside, but cashiers at fast-food restaurants are becoming increasingly uncommon. McDonald's started rolling out ordering kiosks at its US locations in 2015, and the chain hasn't looked back since: by 2020, most of its 14,000 locations will have kiosks installed.
Panera Bread has also committed to digital ordering. Admittedly, when I first tried it in 2015, I found it had decidedly dystopian vibes. But it ended up being a fairly pleasant and painless experience.
A recent poll conducted by Business Insider's partner MSN suggests that diners aren't big fans of automated kiosks: 78% of customers said they would be less inclined to go to a restaurant that has automated ordering kiosks.
The popular narrative is that kiosks and mobile ordering are here to take jobs and hours away from underpaid cashiers, ultimately saving companies money in the face of rising labor costs — but the data suggests that isn't true. It may be true for some, but most chains are simply reallocating labor behind the scenes. And with such a tight labor market, many chains are struggling to hire and retain customer-facing employees.
Americans don't seem too threatened by automation in general. Nationally, only 21% of responders to MSN's poll believe their job may one day be done by machines. And restaurants like automated ordering for its increased accuracy and efficiency as more chains look towards cashless options.
But for now, a question remains: are kiosks, in fact, better for customers?
Source: Business Insider
(Score: 4, Interesting) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Sunday April 01 2018, @07:16AM
Perhaps you're familiar with "iPad Restaurants"? DuckDuckGo, don't fail me now... you have a choice of many different Point Of Sale vendors [duckduckgo.com].
I patronized one at an airport not long ago because I liked the look of their kitchen, which was right in the middle of the dining area.
Each seat at the counter had its own iPad. The tables just had two, one for each side.
I puzzled over my iPad for a little while when a live human turned up next to me. "Would you like me to help you order?" she professionally inquired. "I think I got it." Then my debit card was declined.
She started to cry.
"It's cool, I have another." That card worked.
Later that night I got a call on my iPhone asking whether I really intended to pay for a restaurant meal in Boston, given that I live in Washington State. I tapped the "1" button on my iToy; after that my card worked fine.
Oddly, my credit union's automated security bot had no problem with my using my business debit card in Boston, given that I live in Washington State.
I ordered the very cheapest item on the menu, but I must say those live humans cooking their live-human hearts out in the middle of the dining area did a fabulous job.
As I sat there I was treated to display advertising on that iPad, one of which is found at every counter seat. (The tables just have two.)
I could select the advertising by tapping buttons, some of which were in color. Some of the ads but not all of them were in color as well. During my meal I learned all about a really high-tech matress vendor. I don't like the matress I have now, perhaps I'll order one of their SKUs.
But if I didn't tap any of the buttons for a while, the ads played on their own.
I'll never patronize a place like that again.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]