Many restaurants are beginning to incorporate tech at their in-store environments. AI powered solutions have become a go-to at many fast food and casual eateries, which is why self-serve kiosk features must provide great customer experience.

Smart kiosks have grown in popularity as they allow customers to place and pay for their orders and take a seat or wait by the counter for their order to be ready.

Customers love the convenience of being able to get their order in right away without having to stand in line.

But what features do customers expect from self-serve kiosks? Here are some important things to keep in mind when using self-serve kiosks at your place of business.

Simplicity & Ease Of Use

How easy is it for your customers to use your kiosks?

If it’s easier for them to go to the counter to make the order or wait at the table for a server to come around, there’s a good chance they’re not going to use it.

User experience (UX) development is important for restaurants to consider. Customers shouldn’t be forced to navigate through layers and layers of menu screens just to find what they’re looking for.

The app interface should be intuitive to use, helping customers find menu items quickly and easily. It should be clear where they need to touch to advance to the next screen or add additional items to their order.

Simplicity and ease of use is often overlooked, but it shouldn’t be.

As Kiosk Marketplace states: “Designing and implementing an intuitive UI can be a challenge, but an interface that’s difficult to navigate will inevitably result in frustrated users and lost or abandoned transactions.”

The Ability To Customize Orders

According to Touch Dynamic, online ordering customization is the number one feature customers are looking for in a kiosk, at a whopping 47 percent.

It’s not unusual for customers to want to make substitutions or alter their order in some way. Maybe they want lettuce instead of a bun for their burger.

Maybe they don’t want salad dressing. Perhaps they’re happy with all the pizza toppings on the menu item they’ve chosen, except for one.

This feature may be more important at fast food or casual restaurants as opposed to sit-down or fine-dining eateries, where the level of complexity could be higher.

But if you’re looking to implement a feature your customers will appreciate, make it the ability to customize their orders. These days, plenty of customers have strong preferences or allergy considerations.

The Ability To Pay At The Kiosk

Again, this is going to matter more to fast food and casual eateries than sit-down restaurants. Still, there could be certain advantages to letting your customers pay at the kiosk in sit-down establishments too.

Customers like being able to pay at a kiosk. It makes sense. They don’t just want to be able to place their order – they want to pay for it and get it all done in one fell swoop. This adds to the convenience of kiosks.

Some customers are also a little guarded when it comes to sending their cards away with servers. This isn’t terribly surprising when you consider the latest tech that has made paying easier than ever.

Another important factor is the ability to split bills. Many customers like being able to split the costs among themselves and make separate payments and not have to dig up cash to repay the person responsible for covering the bill.

Final Thoughts

There are many companies setting up high-powered kiosks in highly trafficked areas. The only problem is that the sophistication of tech can result in unwanted technical issues, making it necessary for ongoing maintenance.

So, app simplicity isn’t just good for the customer — it’s also good for restaurants thinking about setting up kiosks in their establishment. Don’t go overboard — make your kiosks optimized, streamlined and easy to service.