Hospitality Technology Self Service Study 2009

Self-service technology has been a slow starter in quick service restaurants (QSRs), and analysts have offered a number of explanations for this environment’s lack of enthusiasm for customer-facing self-service solutions. At NCR, we believe the biggest reason is also the simplest: previous self-service deployments focused on stand-alone devices, rather than incorporating the self-service solutions into the existing customer traffic and service flow of a QSR environment. Our new self-service operating model works with the typical QSR’s traffic flow, not apart from it.

QSR customers have been “trained,” so to speak, to walk up to a counter, look up at the menu board and place their order. If the restaurant is busy, customers either wait in a meandering line directed to the manned counter stations, or try to find the shortest individual line. Customers routinely perform these actions without a second thought.

Stand-alone or off-counter self-service deployments bring an unexpected element into this well-established routine. Customers are likely to be unsure of the self-service device’s purpose at first. Additionally customers may not know whether the solution will provide faster service than waiting for staff assistance. Unfortunately, unfamiliarity and uncertainty combine to create low usage rates for such devices. The problem exacerbates when space-starved QSR operators position these devices out of their restaurants’ existing traffic patterns, which limits customers’ view of the menu board and places them outside of an associate’s reach.

Payment places another hurdle in the success path of off-counter self-service deployments. Unless QSR operators invest in selfservice devices with cash-handling capabilities, transactions are ultimately limited to credit and debit cards. Unless coupons or other promotional offers contain scannable bar codes, customers will face difficulty using the self-service device. Enforcement of senior citizen discounts also becomes problematic without a face-to-face interaction.