First of all, our apologies for not having some more recent articles on our blog. It has been a balance of offering new content while exceeding the demands of our clients and customers.
However, we have a post for you today!
Last week I was in an airport in Seattle. I happened upon a McDonald’s restaurant that was utilizing their new touch screen kiosks for ordering food. There are apparently 1,000 of these kiosks currently in use.
Here there were three kiosks and they were large. There was a line of 2-3 people for each kiosk waiting to order. There were also two cashiers on the other side. I joined the line for the kiosk, which included a host guiding people in their use, but instead was ushered to a cashier to give my order, as the kiosk queue was not moving too quickly.
After I received my order, I took the time to study this out as I awaited my flight. There were several things that were not working here:
- People were not familiar with the screens and the order of presentation.
- Individualizing the order was slowing the process considerably.
- The two cashiers were fast! They simply moved people through quicker.
- The kiosks required human support to direct and answer questions. That was support that honestly could have gone to a register.
In short, I didn’t see that this was working. It seemed that one worker could do the job of three kiosks in any given moment. Unless I was using the kiosk several times a month, I don’t think that the average guest would ever get up to speed. Also, know that 70% of most McDonald’s customers are drive through. While not the case at this airport location, it’s still a factor that can’t quickly be resolved by a kiosk.
I thought about the app Starbucks customers use. That seems to work, though in truth, the customers that would usually utilize the app come back again and again, thus quickly becoming familiar with it. McDonald’s has one too, but I haven’t tried it. I use extensively the one at Walt Disney World. Being a frequent visitor there, I have become comfortable with it. And its success is leading Disney to create one for the Disneyland Resort as well.
What did I observe working at that airport location? They have a monitor for receiving your food. I think at sit-down restaurants they’ve tried bringing the food to you. But after explaining that your receipt has a number (in a big font size), it’s really easy to see where your order is in its processing, and when you need to come back to the counter to receive your product. It seems simple, but it really works.
I also noted a manager who was in the trenches, working hard with her co-workers, and being truly at the helm of her restaurant.
Restaurants–and so many other companies–are working to create high-tech customer service solutions. But my experience at McDonald’s has left me to consider that not all high-tech solutions work. Indeed, it may be that there are better ways of getting the most bang for your high-tech investment.
