How Can a Restaurant Business Benefit from Ordering Kiosks?

As we move into 2022, restaurant owners need to stay ahead of the curve and implement new technologies to streamline their operations and provide a better experience for their customers. One such technology is the ordering kiosk.

Kiosks offer many advantages over traditional methods of taking orders, including increased efficiency, reduced labor costs, better inventory, sales data tracking, and increased customer satisfaction and loyalty. Let’s take a closer look at each of these benefits.

What Are Restaurant Ordering Kiosks, and How Do They Work?

At its simplest, a restaurant ordering kiosk is just a computer terminal that allows customers to place their orders quickly and easily. They are becoming increasingly popular in restaurants of all sizes and types, as they help streamline the ordering process while also reducing costs for the restaurant.

How Do Restaurant Ordering Kiosks Work?

Restaurant ordering kiosks work by allowing customers to place their orders using a touchscreen interface. This removes the need to wait in line or deal with a busy server, which can be frustrating for patrons trying to get through lunch or dinner as quickly as possible.

The kiosk will also display each customer’s order history, helping them save time when placing an order again.

Why Restaurant Ordering Kiosks Are So Important in 2022?

As anyone working in the food service industry can attest, taking orders can be time-consuming. With an ordering kiosk, customers can input their orders quickly and easily without waiting for a server to become available. This saves time for the customer and the restaurant staff, who can now devote their time to other tasks.

In addition, kiosks allow customers to view real-time photos of menu items so they know exactly what they’re getting before they place their order. This can help reduce the incidence of customers sending back items, not to their liking.

Reduced Labor Costs

Kiosks also offer restaurants the opportunity to reduce labor costs by eliminating the need for dedicated order-takers.

In many cases, the employees who prepare and serve the food can also man the kiosks when things are slow. This versatility allows restaurants to optimize their staffing levels according to customer demand rather than being forced to keep an inefficient number of employees on staff at all times.

In addition, by reducing the number of employees needed to take orders, restaurants can free up more money to invest in other areas of their business, such as marketing or employee training.

Track Inventory and Sales Data in Real-Time

Another advantage of using kiosks is that they give restaurants the ability to track inventory and sales data in real time. This information can be used to decide what menu items are selling well and which ones need to be removed or replaced.

In addition, by knowing which items are selling well, restaurants can adjust their production levels accordingly so that they are not stuck with excess inventory that needs to be thrown out. The data collected by your chosen restaurant ordering kiosks can also be used to identify trends over time so that restaurants can adjust their menus accordingly.

For example, if a particular type of food is becoming popular in a specific season or among a particular demographic group, restaurants can add more of those items to their menus.

Increased Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty

Finally, ordering kiosks have been shown to increase customer satisfaction and loyalty. Many customers mentioned that self-service ordering systems made them more likely to return to a restaurant. They also said that self-service ordering systems made them more likely to recommend a restaurant to others.

This shows that customers appreciate the convenience and flexibility kiosks offer and are more likely to return to establishments that provide them.

The Future of Restaurant Ordering Kiosks

With the ubiquity of smartphones and other mobile devices, it’s no surprise that customer behavior has shifted in favor of convenience and speed.

One manifestation of this shift is the increasing popularity of ordering ahead for pick-up or delivery via mobile app. And as mobile ordering continues to grow, restaurant ordering kiosks will likely become more prevalent.

Restaurant Ordering Kiosks Will Likely Become More Intelligent

As ordering kiosks become more prevalent, they will likely become more intelligent. Some restaurant ordering kiosks are equipped with basic artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities, such as suggesting menu items based on customer order history.

But in the future, AI-enabled kiosks can provide even more personalized recommendations based on factors like the time of day, weather, and customer mood.

Kiosks May Help Restaurants Upsell and Cross-Sell

In addition to becoming more intelligent, restaurant ordering kiosks will improve at upselling and cross-selling.

For example, if a customer is ordering a pizza, the kiosk might suggest adding an order of garlic breadsticks or a salad. And thanks to features like visual menus with high-resolution images, customers can see exactly what they’re getting—which may make them more likely to add items to their order.

Customers May Prefer Ordering via Kiosk

While some customers may initially be hesitant about using a restaurant ordering kiosk, many will likely prefer it over traditional methods like ordering at the counter or via a mobile app. That’s because kiosks offer several advantages over other methods, including speed, convenience, and personalization.

And as customers become more comfortable using technology in other areas of their lives—such as banking and shopping—they’ll also be more open to using it when placing orders at restaurants.

As mobile ordering continues to grow in popularity, likely, restaurant ordering kiosks will also become more prevalent. While some challenges need to be addressed—such as educating customers about how to use them—kiosks offer many advantages over traditional methods like counter service and mobile apps.

Thanks to features like AI-powered recommendations and visual menus with high-resolution images, customers can enjoy a faster, more convenient ordering experience—which may make them more likely to order from the same restaurant again in the future.

Conclusion

As we move into 2022 and beyond, restaurant owners need to embrace new technologies that will help them streamline their operations and provide a better customer experience. One such technology is the ordering kiosk.

Kiosks offer several advantages over traditional methods of taking orders—including increased efficiency and reduced labor costs—and have been shown to increase customer satisfaction and loyalty rates, making them an essential tool for any restaurant looking to stay ahead of the competition!