Fast-food and fast-casual restaurants are reaping the benefits of order-taking kiosks — and so can convenience stores.

The kiosks reduce labor cost, redirect staffers to other tasks, increase order accuracy, shorten lines, make service faster and, at least for the time being, give customers a novelty they may enjoy tinkering with.

By using a kiosk, customers get to decide when and how to order and pay for food, while ordering via smartphone adds to the speed and convenience. These kiosks can also automate the upselling process by allowing consumers to scan the entire menu, improving the store’s bottom line.

In addition, touchscreen kiosks can collect valuable consumer information via quick surveys. Retailers have the flexibility to choose from countertop, free standing, wall-mounted and outdoor self-ordering kiosks to match their location’s logistics.

70% Preferred Digital Ordering
Perhaps the single greatest indication that touchscreen ordering is right for convenience stores is research that shows Americans’ hunger for retail convenience continues to grow.

Surveys of consumer attitudes indicate that ordering kiosks provide more of convenience stores’ single greatest product: convenience.

Last August, Brooklyn, N.Y.-based Koala Labs Inc., a provider of premium, customizable apps and websites for restaurants, released findings from its “Customer Ordering Preferences” survey.

Researchers found a decided preference for convenience, indicating a preferential engagement with digital ordering. For example:

• 77% of consumers choosing an online ordering system, kiosk or mobile app cited convenience as the primary reason.
• 70% of those surveyed prefer to order digitally over in-person.
• Nearly 50% of respondents are drawn to reduced wait times and previously saved orders.