Self-service kiosks in HORECA

Saturday evening at a popular fast-food joint. The queue snakes to the door. Staff work at the edge of exhaustion. Customers grow irritable. Familiar scene? This was precisely the situation Mark faced when he first considered self-service kiosks for his sushi chain.

“I resisted the idea for a long time,” he admits. It seemed that technology would kill the soul of his establishment. But reality proved different. Two years later, revenue increased by 35%, and customer reviews improved.

This story is hardly unique. In recent years, dozens of restaurateurs have journeyed from scepticism to enthusiasm. Kiosks can boost average ticket size by 20-30% and pay for themselves in four months—but only if you know how to implement them properly.

Three primary fears

“We’ll lose personal touch”

Anastasia, owner of a café chain, nearly wept at our first meeting. “This is a family business. Our employees know regular customers by name. How can I replace them with machines?”

Yet after installing kiosks, her staff didn’t vanish—they transformed. Instead of mechanically processing orders at the register, they began greeting guests at the entrance, helping with kiosks, bringing orders to tables, chatting with customers. “Our clients say service has become more personal,” she laughs today.

“Elderly customers won’t manage”

Nearly everyone voices this concern. Statistics confirm it: only 33% of older generations regularly use kiosks, whilst among youth the figure reaches 82%.

At one McDonald’s, an elderly woman approached a kiosk. An employee immediately appeared nearby—unobtrusive, yet ready to help. “Let me show you how it works!” he said. Five minutes later, she was ordering independently, and the following week she was teaching her friend. “You know what I like most? I can take my time, and nobody’s breathing down my neck,” she said.

Successful restaurants designate special “kiosk ambassadors”—staff whose primary task in the first months is helping customers master the technology.

“It’s too expensive”

Let’s be frank—initial investments are substantial. But speaking in numbers: a pizzeria with three locations saved $54,600 annually on labour costs by redistributing staff from registers to the kitchen. Quality and speed improved because cooks received extra hands.

Real results

Research demonstrates compelling results from kiosk implementation:

• Average ticket increase of 20-30% through visual presentation and the ability to leisurely select additional items
• Investment payback in 4-6 months with proper implementation
• 40% reduction in order errors compared to manual processing
• Improved customer satisfaction through reduced waiting times

Technology in HoReCa isn’t about replacing people with machines. It’s about freeing employees from drudgery for genuine hospitality. Self-service kiosks don’t kill the soul of an establishment—they give it room to flourish.