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Of course Forbes would try to make a connection to minimum wage, but there are much more practical reasons to do this: consistent user experience, elimination o

by afpx 8y ago

Of course Forbes would try to make a connection to minimum wage, but there are much more practical reasons to do this: consistent user experience, elimination of training, instant rollout, capacity management, A/B testing, transaction speed, etc. If the kiosk is designed well, it ends up being a better experience than a human interaction. One example that comes to mind is Panara Bread’s system. If a kiosks is available, I always prefer it to a person.

Nursie 8y ago
It doesn't matter so much whether minimum wage is $5 or $50 - running a machine saves them money. If they can make customer experience and efficiency gains off the back of it as well, it's an all round win for them.
dev_north_east 8y ago
There's a great advantage when in a foreign country too. I was abroad recently and dying of a hangover... I managed to make my way to the local McDonald's and instead of having the usual translation issues, I used the kiosk and waited for my number to come up.
annabellish 8y ago
All of those things are meaningless to a company on their own. This kind of decision comes down to one simple calculation: Is more profit likely to be generated from doing it, or from not doing it? All the things you've mentioned are things which potentially increase profit, though the rollout is a big investment with a lot of risk, which decreases profit. Also decreasing profit is having to pay your workers more, so in that sense, increases in minimum wage possible did contribute to this decision. The thing which people who point to that as a sign of minimum wage increases being bad miss is that these things are a moving target. Automated kiosks are getting cheaper every year, and at worst an increase in minimum wage brings it a few years closer. That's not great for people working in jobs that were a few years away from being economically viable to automated, but they'll still benefit in their next job, and a huge chunk of the population still benefits (and thus the economy overall)
- afpx 8y ago
  Yes, of course, decreasing costs always makes sense, but Forbes makes it appear that that’s the driving force, One thing the last few decades has shown particularly well is that often it’s easier to make money through growth than through cost cutting. Of course, this isn’t universal, especially within tiny markets, commoditized offerings, or when growth has plateaued.
itake 8y ago
actually, I prefer the opposite. I know exactly what I want at Panera and I don't want to spend time clicking through menus when I can just say my order. I will use the kiosks if there is a line for the cashiers and at Starbucks, I like using their mobile app instead of waiting in line to give my order.
- ams6110 8y ago
  I can't stand the kiosk either. It's much faster to say "Egg McMuffin and a large coffee" then to go fumbling around through screens and menus. If there's much of a line I just leave. The food's not that good to be worth waiting for.
Humdeee 8y ago
I'm the opposite. I actually believe that if the overwhelming standard of the kiosk order were to exist today, it'd be an excellent opportunity for a chain store to re-introduce human interaction when ordering and be very successful along with that "new" marketing approach. There are excellent pros to the kiosk, and I use it when impatient and not wanting to stand in line. However, if I walk in to an empty store, my experience would be more enjoyable when speaking to a person rather than a wall size touch screen.
creaghpatr 8y ago
The Chick-fil-a app (not a kiosk but same concept) does make it a better experience despite the fact that Chick-fil-a employees are known for excellent customer service. During lunch hour my Chick-fil-a was a mad house of ppl waiting in line to order but once the app hit critical mass, the line basically disappears and people just show up to pick up their order and leave. I think the key to success iss that CFA only has a couple items on the menu and there are only so many ways you can customize a chicken sandwich (or tenders or nuggets). Because the app streamlined their process they upped their throughput and hired more employees to meet this demand. So I think kiosks could ultimately be a win-win for employees and customers but we gotta get over the learning curve hump. The McDonalds kiosks are NOT user friendly.
jm__87 8y ago
Can't it be both? It's pretty obvious that a rising minimum wage would increase McDonalds costs. As min wage rises, at some point, assuming the average customer is indifferent to how their order is taken, it will make sense to have fewer cashiers and more kiosks. You're making an assumption that everyone just prefers a computer to a person. I personally always go to the cashier and can't stand the kiosks.

by afpx 8y ago

Nursie 8y ago

It doesn't matter so much whether minimum wage is $5 or $50 - running a machine saves them money. If they can make customer experience and efficiency gains off the back of it as well, it's an all round win for them.

dev_north_east 8y ago

There's a great advantage when in a foreign country too. I was abroad recently and dying of a hangover... I managed to make my way to the local McDonald's and instead of having the usual translation issues, I used the kiosk and waited for my number to come up.

annabellish 8y ago

All of those things are meaningless to a company on their own. This kind of decision comes down to one simple calculation: Is more profit likely to be generated from doing it, or from not doing it? All the things you've mentioned are things which potentially increase profit, though the rollout is a big investment with a lot of risk, which decreases profit. Also decreasing profit is having to pay your workers more, so in that sense, increases in minimum wage possible did contribute to this decision. The thing which people who point to that as a sign of minimum wage increases being bad miss is that these things are a moving target. Automated kiosks are getting cheaper every year, and at worst an increase in minimum wage brings it a few years closer. That's not great for people working in jobs that were a few years away from being economically viable to automated, but they'll still benefit in their next job, and a huge chunk of the population still benefits (and thus the economy overall)

afpx 8y ago
Yes, of course, decreasing costs always makes sense, but Forbes makes it appear that that’s the driving force, One thing the last few decades has shown particularly well is that often it’s easier to make money through growth than through cost cutting. Of course, this isn’t universal, especially within tiny markets, commoditized offerings, or when growth has plateaued.

itake 8y ago

actually, I prefer the opposite. I know exactly what I want at Panera and I don't want to spend time clicking through menus when I can just say my order. I will use the kiosks if there is a line for the cashiers and at Starbucks, I like using their mobile app instead of waiting in line to give my order.

ams6110 8y ago
I can't stand the kiosk either. It's much faster to say "Egg McMuffin and a large coffee" then to go fumbling around through screens and menus. If there's much of a line I just leave. The food's not that good to be worth waiting for.

Humdeee 8y ago

I'm the opposite. I actually believe that if the overwhelming standard of the kiosk order were to exist today, it'd be an excellent opportunity for a chain store to re-introduce human interaction when ordering and be very successful along with that "new" marketing approach. There are excellent pros to the kiosk, and I use it when impatient and not wanting to stand in line. However, if I walk in to an empty store, my experience would be more enjoyable when speaking to a person rather than a wall size touch screen.

creaghpatr 8y ago

The Chick-fil-a app (not a kiosk but same concept) does make it a better experience despite the fact that Chick-fil-a employees are known for excellent customer service. During lunch hour my Chick-fil-a was a mad house of ppl waiting in line to order but once the app hit critical mass, the line basically disappears and people just show up to pick up their order and leave. I think the key to success iss that CFA only has a couple items on the menu and there are only so many ways you can customize a chicken sandwich (or tenders or nuggets). Because the app streamlined their process they upped their throughput and hired more employees to meet this demand. So I think kiosks could ultimately be a win-win for employees and customers but we gotta get over the learning curve hump. The McDonalds kiosks are NOT user friendly.

jm__87 8y ago

Can't it be both? It's pretty obvious that a rising minimum wage would increase McDonalds costs. As min wage rises, at some point, assuming the average customer is indifferent to how their order is taken, it will make sense to have fewer cashiers and more kiosks. You're making an assumption that everyone just prefers a computer to a person. I personally always go to the cashier and can't stand the kiosks.