The Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) sector has been the poster child of kiosk success. No other industry has seen as many kiosks deployed, and with such an impact on performance.
Yet for all that kiosks continue to be a central feature of the QSR landscape, one recent study does raise a word of caution to businesses. According to Intouch Insight’s Emerging Experiences 2025 report, kiosk ordering falls short on how customers perceive the ‘friendliness’ of an experience compared to benchmarks measured across all on-premise restaurant visits. And crucially, that discrepancy contributes to slightly lower overall satisfaction.
The study found that QSR customers give outlets that use self-order kiosks a 66% friendliness rating. This compares to a benchmark across all premises of 78%. That’s a significant gap. Then in terms of overall satisfaction, the QSR kiosk experience got 89%. Which is still fantastically high. But nonetheless below the 94% benchmark.
Kiosk benefits still outweigh the negatives
These figures should be seen in perspective. Intouch Insight also found that, in outlets with mixed ordering options, 76% of customers would choose a kiosk when there were long queues. Elsewhere, Tillster found that 61% of people who use kiosks in restaurants would like to see them in more premises. This is almost double the 36% who said the same thing in the corresponding report just two years ago.
This positive customer view of kiosks comes on top of the very clear business benefits QSRs have experienced, namely:
- Increased efficiency: Kiosks are proven to streamline the ordering process, reducing the time from start of order to meal collection, and therefore boosting the number of transactions a restaurant can get through. Kiosks also help to reduce mistakes with orders.
- Higher customer spending: Kiosks give customers the freedom to customise their orders as they wish, and help the process along with on-screen prompts for add-ons and upgrades. This has led to widespread reports from QSRs of average order values increasing after they install kiosks. Increases of 10% or more are not uncommon.
- Enhanced personalization and loyalty: The ability to customize an order at will is one form of personalization, giving customers an increased sense of control and satisfaction. When integrated with loyalty programs, kiosks can also recognize returning users, suggest relevant upgrades, and highlight timely promotions, providing an experience that is more curated to the individual.
From personalization to personal
But the lower assessment of the ‘friendliness’ of kiosks suggests that customers make a distinction between the benefits of personalized experiences delivered through technology and the personal experience of interacting with another human being. And being customers, they want both.
This needn’t be mission impossible for restaurant owners. There are plenty of ways to balance technological efficiency with human warmth. Some examples include:
- Hybrid service models: Mixing kiosks with traditional counter service gives customers a choice depending on what they prefer. This is particularly effective for catering to different age demographics and different levels of comfort with technology.
- Staff engagement: Having kiosks in place doesn’t mean staff have to shun all interactions with staff. Training staff to be ready to assist with kiosk use if and when they are having issues, or even just offer a friendly welcome and ask if there is anything they can do for them, will add that important human touch.
- Feedback mechanisms: Something as simple as implementing features that allow customers to provide feedback on their experience can increase customer satisfaction by demonstrating that their opinions are valued.
- AI voice interfaces: Finally, counter-intuitive though it seems, studies have shown that customers routinely rate self-service systems with AI voice interfaces as more ‘personal’ and ‘friendly’ than those with just screens.
By taking these simple steps, not just QSR operators but all businesses that use self-service kiosks can enhance the benefits they bring even further, giving their customers an experience that combines efficiency and flexibility with a friendly and personal touch.
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