Self-Serve Kiosks: Beyond the Quick Service Restaurant World - Volanté Systems

It’s no secret that self-serve kiosks have revolutionized the way people order food. Beyond that, they are also used across many industries for ticketing, check-ins, and market research. As noted by Tillster, “In 2019, self-serve kiosk sales rose 17.9% to more than $11.9 billion.” Couple that with the current pandemic landscape where the desire for human contact is limited, and you have a recipe for a future full of self-serve kiosks.

While many of us can agree that self-serve kiosks are largely found in quick-service restaurants and chains, the technology is quickly expanding to support a wide range of other food service businesses from senior living communities, to stadiums, to table service restaurants offering take-out options.

The benefits of self-serve kiosks are plentiful for both operators and customers, as outlined in previous discussions about the future of self-serve kiosks.

However, as self-serve kiosks find themselves expanding into areas beyond just the standard QSR model, understanding the flexibility and options available with self-serve kiosks will help you make the most of self-serve technology regardless of the audience you serve or the dining style you support.

Today, here are some of the many ways self-serve kiosks are being used across hospitality beyond quick-service restaurants:

Self-serve in Senior Living

As residents in senior living become more technologically savvy, the demand for self-serve experiences in senior living is growing. Implementing self-serve ordering options in communities is helping operators position themselves with competitive advantages including safer dining practices, technology-driven experiences, and enhanced interaction with food service and food offerings at the community.

Self-serve kiosks in senior living are also used for checking resident account balances, which helps community managers spend less time reviewing resident account information. It’s a safe and easy way to enable residents with clear insights into their spending habits.

Concession Kiosks in Stadiums and Attractions

Generating more revenue from food and beverage concessions is always a top priority at stadiums and attractions. Kiosks are a great way to encourage upsells, cross-sells, and more order points for customers to order from – increasing concession sales dramatically. As noted by Mobile Sports Report, LSU’s basketball arena noted a “16% increase in average order size and 25% more items per order compared to human-operated terminals at point of sale counters.”

When thinking about adding self-serve kiosks to your stadium, consider where you will be placing them to maximize engagement and encourage social distancing if needed. In addition, you should work with your software provider to ensure the menu layout is built to encourage combos, upsells, and cross-sells.

Kiosks are also great to encourage contactless payments such as debit, credit, gift cards, vouchers, loyalty cards, or loaded tickets – so you have many payment method options available to encourage quick and easy payments.

Self-serve kiosks stretch beyond just quick-service and are now a key component of most food service businesses. If you’re running a food service operation, consider where kiosks may fit into your plan. Whether you’re a food truck, dine-in venue, or busy performing arts theatre, implementing a kiosk could help you deliver a better customer experience and increase revenue.