Are kiosks the future of hospitality

With the hospitality sector continuing to digitise at a rapid rate, many restaurants are embracing kiosks as the future, with major brands like Pizza Hut, McDonald’s, and KFC adopting them.

The number of kiosks in restaurants has jumped by 43% between 2021 and 2023, nearing 350,000 installations worldwide, showing just how quickly the technology is being adopted. And it’s showing no signs of slowing down with experts predicting that nearly 700,000 kiosks will be installed worldwide by 2028.

While kiosks may not suit every brand, dismissing them entirely can be a missed opportunity. Persistent labour shortages and rising costs in the hospitality industry have become growing issues for operators to tackle, putting additional pressure on stretched teams. Kiosks can fill these gaps, while also providing a valuable window into your customers and their behaviours.

To maximise these benefits, kiosks must be seamlessly integrated with your existing technology stack and positioned as tools to assist employees, not replace them.

So, why are they so popular? And how can restaurants make the most of the technology?

Improving Restaurant Efficiency

First up, let’s talk venue efficiency, specifically how kiosks can streamline and improve operations across a singular venue or multiple.

Order Processing

In a traditional restaurant you may have a handful of staff greeting guests, taking orders and serving food. These are the people which are responsible for delivering experiences to customers, ensuring they enjoy their visit and want to come back time and again. However, during busy periods it can be more difficult for these team members to deliver that experience consistently, especially if they are thin on the ground. With a kiosk you can take more orders and payments without involving the staff, leaving them with more time to deliver your restaurant’s core experience. Kiosks are also able to keep up a consistent level of service no matter how busy the venue gets, meaning customers are always receiving the service your business strives for.

During these busy periods, typical ordering methods might result in long lines and wait times, slowing down the entire service process and affecting customer satisfaction. In research we conducted last year, 34% of Brits said that long wait times are the thing that annoys them the most about customer service when dining out, while 33% said slow service. This is why technology such as kiosks can be so valuable.

Menu Testing

Choosing menu items which suit the wants and needs of your customers is key. However, for operators with multiple venues, this may differ dependent on where each is located. With a traditional restaurant, menus are static, but with kiosks, you can update your menu in real time across all of your venues. Kiosks allow you to test different menu items and offers to determine which perform the best at certain times and locations. This immediate feedback can be used to inform your menu choices across all your restaurants, in real time. This way of working is much more consistent and accurate, meaning operators can be more confident when making changes to their menus.

Real-Time Data Collection

Restaurants must make the most of every customer that enters their premises, and the best way to do this is through data. Kiosks harvest vast amounts of customer and business data, from your best-selling menu items and busiest periods, to when specific customers like to visit, and which offers are the most popular. By implementing intelligent data capture through technology such as kiosks, operators can build a single view of their customers, which can be used to engage with their needs directly and enhance their experiences with the brand.

By properly leveraging the data you hold on your customers, you can be much more powerful in the way you market to them. You can be more targeted and personalised in your approach, helping to strengthen loyalty and drive repeat visits.

Bespoke Kiosks for your Business

Interestingly, our research on automation and AI in restaurants found that all restaurant settings can benefit from technology like kiosks, with 41% of customers revealing that they would happily visit fast-food chains, while 35% chose takeaways, 21% cafés, 17% pubs and 17% bars. Even 11% of consumers stated they would be happy to eat at fully automated fine dining restaurants.

Understanding how to implement and get the most out of a kiosk system can be difficult to do. However, here at three rocks, we simplify this for you. We get to know your business and the needs of your customers, using data-driven solutions to truly understand what it is people want from your brand, and what type of experience you want to deliver.

We start by getting to know you, your business, and your goals. Our custom solutions are designed with your input at every step, ensuring the end product aligns perfectly with your objectives and is also future-ready so it can evolve as your business grows, giving your restaurant a competitive edge that is crucial in today's business world.

If you’d like to hear more about kiosks, check out our XMS page here – or get in touch with us!