Tag: Payments

The airline industry was one of the first to revolutionize the check-in process with the implementation of self-service kiosks. The technology helped to decrease guest wait times and enabled labor to be reallocated to areas of greater need. Today, self-service kiosks have transitioned from an innovation found at the airport to an expectation held by consumers of the hospitality industry. In a recent survey by PYMNTS, it was revealed that kiosks are seeing the strongest growth, and that 41% of the industry is now using kiosk technology to serve guests.

Self-service kiosks provide businesses the opportunity to both meet consumer expectation and demand, while at the same time growing the bottom line. Kiosks have been proven to help increase order size, improve accuracy, decrease labor costs, and more, which is why so many restaurants are adopting this solution. As this tech takes off, make sure your business is positioned to capitalize on self-ordering applications.

Free Self-Service Kiosk Resources

The future of many industries lies with self-service solutions. That’s why Star Micronics is offering free online ordering resources for resellers and software developers who are helping customers future-proof their businesses with self-service solutions.

Visit Self-Service Toolbox

Increased Upselling Capabilities & Average Ticket Size

In the high-tech age we live in, customers have become increasingly comfortable ordering from a screen. Kiosks allow customers to take their time and order precisely what they want, how they want it, without feeling pressure from the counter or customers next in line. According to the Kiosk Marketplace, research indicates that most customers prefer self-service devices to waiting in line or at a table for service.

So, what’s encouraging guests to open their wallets for a bigger order at the screen? The primary driver is upselling. You may have trained your cashier to upsell, but chances are staff members aren’t asking guests to purchase additional items every time. With kiosks, an opportunity to upsell is never missed.

Self-service kiosks can automatically prompt guests with tantalizing options that pair well with the selections they have chosen. Something as simple as additional toppings like cheese or sour cream— which may cost an additional $0.30 to $0.70—really adds up over time. When McDonald’s implemented these kiosks, they saw a 20% increase in drink orders alone.

Don’t let the opportunity for those larger sales pass you by.

Enhanced Order Customization

With kiosk technology, upselling can be personalized. Kiosks can learn from the buying habits of repeat customers, making better recommendations based on what guests like. Loyalty programs are easily managed with kiosks, allowing guests to quickly see rewards points and how they can use them as they build their order. This added personalization creates a great sense of value for your customers, keeping them coming back time and time again.

Upselling isn’t the only customization tool that self-service kiosks can provide. They also put the power directly in the hands of your guests to customize every item. They’ll be able to see every option available to them, including gluten-free or vegan options. Whether they want to add or remove toppings, swap sides, upgrade their drink, or elect a light or healthier version, they can easily make those adjustments with a few quick clicks.

A cashier can only provide all this information when guests request it. Static menu boards only allow so much information on each item, topping, and sauce choice available. With kiosks, the customization is endless. Self-service kiosks allow businesses to meet guest expectations.

Improved Order Accuracy

As customization increases, so too increases the need for accurate order entry. Imagine you run a coffee shop, and a guest comes in and quickly rattles off, “One large iced coffee, double espresso, skim milk, light ice, mocha drizzle with extra cinnamon, no whip.” The guest might have gotten the entire order out before your cashier was able to even select the size. Your employee might require the order being repeated several times or risk entering it incorrectly—a costly mistake if it becomes a common occurrence.

Now imagine that your guest has the ability to enter an order directly into a self-service kiosk. Every detail is entered correctly, then reviewed before checking out.

Guests have the reassurance that their order was entered precisely how they want. Self-service kiosks deliver orders directly to the queue, which significantly increases order accuracy, saving your business time and money associated with correcting improperly made orders.

Reduced Labor Costs

Implementing kiosks doesn’t mean that you are eliminating cashiers and traditional cashier terminals. Some guests will still want to order from a cashier, especially if they want to pay with cash. With less pressure for cashiers to process orders quickly to meet the demands of a fast-growing line, cashiers can now take more time with customers, delivering a better customer experience. In addition, your business may now need fewer cashiers to take orders, allowing you to reallocate the labor time you save at the front counter to other areas where labor consistently falls short.

Customer Insights

Self-service kiosks provide business owners with valuable data. You’ll be able to get insights into popular menu items, busiest times of the day, and popular order modifications and add-on items. This data can empower you to determine what items to strategically promote on the kiosks, when additional staff might be necessary to assist guests with kiosks, and more.

For example, if you notice that guests are often opting for a specific add-on item, this might direct you to make a price increase on that add-on item to test what that item’s ideal price point is for delivering the best profit margin. You’ll be able to track how that price change has had an impact on sales and your revenue stream. These small adjustments can have long-term impact to your bottom line.

Additionally, you may notice that sales are slow for certain menu items during certain days or times. Changing the promotions that are displayed on the kiosk screen can bolster sales during slower times.

Reduced Wait Times

Guests don’t want to wait. Long lines are a major deterrent, and with the countless options available to consumers seeking quick service or fast casual establishments, wait times could make or break your guest experience—and you may never get the chance to make it up to the guest who waited too long.

Kiosks offer a fast, easy way for guests to enter their own order, make their payment, get their (correct) order, and be on their way. This seamless process improves the guest experience and your business will reap the rewards.

In addition, since cashiers will have to spend less time entering orders and processing payments, they can focus more on providing the best customer service possible. They’ll be available for guests to ask questions, ensure needs are met, and walk guests through any technical or user errors on the kiosks. The human element won’t be lost, simply transitioned into more of a service role, and less of a data entry one.

Stay Competitive

The hospitality industry is constantly evolving—always seeking the latest and greatest means to attract and retain customers. The competition is becoming more complex, as consumers have more options than ever. From high-end dining, to fast casual, home delivery services, meal kit, and grocery delivery options—the contenders aren’t backing down.

Kiosks can help you contend with competitors in the hospitality industry, providing you with the edge you need to not only stay afloat, but also to become a successful establishment in the industry. With improved speed and accuracy, you’ll see higher customer satisfaction out of the gate. Plus, with the data it can provide, you’ll be able to fine-tune your offerings and prices, so your bottom line is always looking its best.

Make Sure Your Kiosk is Complete

In order to process customer transactions, your kiosk needs to be outfitted with a reliable receipt printer. You’ll want to make sure that the printer is ergonomically designed to fit a wide range of kiosks. You also want to make sure the kiosk printer is fast, so lines aren’t held up from slow printing.

A few qualities that make printers ergonomic and fast that you will want to look for are:

• Looping presenter: This helps reduce paper jams and an output sensor detects if the customer has taken the receipt or not. The printer ejects uncollected receipts or foreign objects prior to printing the next receipt.
• LED presenter: This helps deliver printer maintenance information to staff members and customers, such as receipt available (green light) or paper jam issue (red light).
• Bezel: A bezel will ensure a seamless, professional aesthetic for the paper exit. It can be integrated with the LED feature for further visual appeal and maintenance functionality.
• Paper roll holder: The paper roll holder should support different sizes of receipt paper rolls depending on the application of the kiosk printer its frequency of use.
• PromoPRNT & Cloud-connected: A PromoPRNT, Cloud-connected kiosk printer will provide additional value-add services to your business. With PromoPRNT, you will be able to offer customers promos and coupons on printed receipts. Cloud connectivity will enable device management features and other benefits.

Looking to learn more? Here are 8 features kiosk manufacturers should look for when choosing kiosk printing mechanisms.

The correct kiosk printer is just a click away. Download our full eBook now to discover which kiosk printer on the market fits your needs!

Explore Solutions

Did you know that in the United States alone, nearly 70% of consumers drink at least two cups of coffee per day? That’s a lot of java to serve, and even more customers to provide with a fast, personalized (and profitable) experience. Luckily, managing all of those caffeinated purchases can become easier than you ever thought possible when you choose the right POS for coffee shop for your needs.

Let’s explore 5 reasons why you need a coffee shop POS system – and some features to look for:

1. Empower Staff to Keep the Line of Customers Moving Fast

At the end of the day, providing your customers with what they need in a timely manner will make or break your business. To keep your customer queue moving quickly and efficiently, be sure to select a coffee shop POS system with a user-friendly interface to let your baristas take orders fast and without errors.

What does that look like? It looks like a POS system that accepts all kinds of payments (including cash, mobile payments, credit and debit cards, reward points, and more).

While the speed of each individual transaction may not seem that important at times when store foot traffic is low, the speed in which your coffee shop POS system processes payments makes a big difference during busy hours.

2. Customers Can Customize Their Own Drink

We live in the age of, “I’ll take a small iced coffee, 2 pumps of no-sugar caramel syrup, light on the soy milk, and a double shot.” That’s right, today’s customers want things their way, and we can’t blame them. What we can take some blame for, though, is misunderstanding those orders, wasting product, and losing money as well as the customer’s patience.

But don’t worry – your coffee shop POS system can help with those complicated customized orders! If your POS app has a modifier feature, like for example, Poster POS, taking custom orders becomes easy for your baristas. It’s a win-win: give your customers their favorite drinks without delays, and accurately track inventory in your POS when customers order different milk alternatives and toppings.

3. Make the Most of Your POS Using its Marketing Features

A big part of creating coffee shop customers that keep coming back for more is by marketing to them. When there’s a choice between a coffee shop that has a special coupon/sale, or a coffee shop that only has set, standard prices, the customer will most likely choose the discounted cup of Joe.

Create the customer retention you crave by setting up a unique happy hour promotion for each day right in your coffee shop POS system! These built-in deals allow your baristas apply discounts without any additional bother and can create more sales during traditionally slow hours. You can also let customers know about your special deals (and loyalty programs, social media accounts, and more) by promoting them on your receipt.

4. Know and Sell Your Most Profitable Drinks and Desserts

Without a feature-packed coffee shop POS system, it can be hard to answer questions like:

• Which of my products has the highest profit margin?
• Which of my items is the most expensive to make?
• Which product is most popular? And during which days and times?

You guessed it – you can use your POS system to answer all of these questions and more. Food costs and margins can be calculated automatically in your POS, as well as sales data which allows you to understand and analyze your top products. Use this valuable data to rotate items on your menu based on their profitability and popularity!

5. Securely Store Your Business Data in the Cloud

Last but not least, keep all that data safe and just a click away by choosing a cloud-based coffee shop POS system. Gone are the worries of your data being lost if your hardware breaks! And there’s an added benefit of working in the cloud: you’ll become a more flexible manager with access to your coffee shop management system from any computer and any place in the world.

Star Has the Coffee Shop POS System Solutions You Need – Learn More Now!

This is the second part of “The Benefits of Self-Service Kiosks,” a three-part blog series about the many ways self-service kiosk technology is improving businesses, communities, the customer experience, and more.

Sometimes when you think about technology, it’s easy to assume the latest advancements are reserved for a select, more fortunate portion of the community. After all, who can afford each new updated smartphone? And if we’re being honest, the learning curve of keeping up with new technology can be daunting.

However, technology is improving quality of life for all people, not just the wealthy and early adopters. Take, for example, kiosks. Thanks to self-service touchscreen technology, kiosks are able to provide a truly unifying experience, and don’t discriminate user experience based on any criteria.

The benefits of kiosks extend well beyond increased profits and helping businesses compete in the modern world. From making communication easier to enabling payments of all types, let’s explore how kiosks are benefiting all corners of the community.

Free Self-Service Kiosk Resources

The future of many industries lies with self-service solutions. That’s why Star Micronics is offering free online ordering resources for resellers and software developers who are helping customers future-proof their businesses with self-service solutions.

Visit Self-Service Toolbox

Kiosks Make Communication Easier

A huge group of people that benefits from kiosks is those who do not speak the native language of the area they are in.

Thanks to their dynamic experience, kiosks allow users to customize their experience depending on their language (i.e. language selection). In the United States, ESL (English as a Second Language) customers can order confidently without the burden of having to try to communicate with front-of-house workers, and kiosks make it easier for global travelers to order meals, tickets, and more, as well.

The benefits of offering kiosk technology to ESL customers is huge: not only is there an instant transactional benefit, but in the long run kiosks can create a new level of equality and provide emotional benefits to all involved parties.

Kiosks Serve the Underserved and Less Fortunate

On top of their many other benefits, kiosks also do a great job at serving the underserved and accommodating the less fortunate. Kiosks can easily be placed in marginalized communities, helping to serve the underserved in an inclusive, go-at-your-own-pace way.

It’s important to note that implementing kiosk technology doesn’t mean businesses have to go cashless. In fact, a proper kiosk implementation will allow cash transactions at both the counter and the kiosk. Cash acceptance is important because while some businesses choose to go cashless, according to Wakefield Research, 83% of small business owners in the U.S. say they will never stop accepting cash. Why’s that? Doing so can leave out people who are unbanked or underbanked – and that’s a lot of folks: 6.5% of Americans are unbanked, and nearly 19% are underbanked.

And in case you didn’t know, cash is, in fact, still king (across the board): it makes up some 30% of all transactions, and a whopping 55% of transactions valued $10 and under.

How to Start Better Serving Your Customers (and Community)

Are you ready to reap all of the benefits that kiosks have to offer? Star can help! By partnering with industry-leading kiosk solution providers, we help spread the technology’s many benefits across various industries, from retailers to restaurants, and everything in between.

And kiosks aren’t just for large establishments. Star works with kiosk solution providers, like Flash Order, that are uniquely positioned to help small businesses adopt the latest kiosk technology … because when all businesses can adopt kiosks, all businesses can give back to their community.

Do you build kiosks? Curious about integrating with Star’s kiosk printing solutions? Download our free Guide to Selecting the Right Kiosk Printer.

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