February 22nd, 2006
No More Fast Food Cashiers: Taco Bell/KFC Use Touch Screen Order Takers
By Alice Hill
RealTechNews
Scratch this “McJob” from the list. The fast food cashier is becoming as obsolete as paper money and a cash register will soon be. Here are actual photos from a Taco Bell/KFC store in Morrisville North Carolina.
So I went to one of those Taco Bell/KFC hybrids in Morrisville, NC and all the ordering was done through the gigantic touchscreens. No humans take orders there. Source: Flickr via Digg
We say: Pros: no one mis-counts your change or rings up the fries twice. Con: yet another kiosk. How soon before the whole she-bang is automated?
Mumblix Grumph says:
How soon before the whole she-bang is automated?
Not soon enough.
February 22nd, 2006 at 2:13 am
Tom says:
ewwwwwww….. touchscreens at KFC?
I’ll have to bring a Groening Dialing Wand ™
\\mash the keys now
February 22nd, 2006 at 4:41 am
Snopesman says:
Wow, everything old is new again. Except this time they are using electronics.
http://www.theautomat.com/inside/welcome/welcom.html
February 22nd, 2006 at 5:29 am
Inglix the Mad says:
Reminds me of Harry Harrison’s Stainless Steel Rat series. McSwiney’s (if I remember right) had a fully automated fast food joint serving porcuswine :p
February 22nd, 2006 at 6:43 am
David Johnston says:
I imagine these machines will get pretty nasty. I wouldn’t want to be touching them before eating my food. Of course, you never know where the cashier’s hands have been either I guess.
February 22nd, 2006 at 7:00 am
Cheese Toast says:
If you ever have worked in the food industry, you’ll know this will never work. After a few hundred times of somebody not typing in their special order correctly and not getting their order the way they “ordered” it this thing will be unplugged. On the other note, this is just like the self checkout at the supermarket or home store, I am paying the same whether I go to a cashier or the self checkout. Why should I pay to do someone’s job? Our country has gotten too damn greedy.
February 22nd, 2006 at 8:03 am
Lee says:
For what it’s worth, there’s convenience stores here in the Mid-Atlantic (I’m in NoVA) that have had touch-screen ordering for their service delis for years; Sheetz was first, Wawa added it a year or two ago or so. That said, you can only order on them — you still have to go to a live cashier to check out.
February 22nd, 2006 at 8:58 am
Bill says:
I have been wondering for over 5 years why they don’t do this. I would prefer to see this as an option - not a total loss of human cashier. There is a big problem in many areas with human order takers - they can’t find enough that can do the job. Some of the bodies they place in those jobs can barely function.
Of course now I will get stuck behind the *customer* that can barely function and starts holding up the line.
February 22nd, 2006 at 9:03 am
Ed3 says:
It’s in the wrong place. The need to replace the squaky drive-through speaker with it.
February 22nd, 2006 at 10:14 am
Kevin K says:
So, if no one has a job, including the formerly low paid cashiers at Taco Bell, who is going to be able to afford the food?!?!?
If all these cost cutting measures are meant to enhance the bottom line of these corporations because they are not making enough profit, why then, instead of laying off workers, don’t they just charge us a bit more for the food? After all, I used to go to Taco Bell all the time for the $.39, $.59, $.79 menu but realized I liked the much more expensive Rubios food better! I am willing to pay more for stuff if it meant less unemployment….
February 22nd, 2006 at 11:11 am
Kris says:
Less unemployment than 4.7%??
February 22nd, 2006 at 1:18 pm
AJ says:
From my own self-interested perspective, if this can offer me faster and more accurate response time, great. This becomes offensive when I’m doing the work of a clerk AND getting slower and/or louser service. I mean, then what’s in it for me?!
Our Home Depot has self-serve checkout, and I’ll have to say that it’s generally been a net plus for me.
February 22nd, 2006 at 2:09 pm
Mark says:
Research has shown again and again that kiosks like that along with things like salad bars are the worst things to touch because they get covered in germs from people.
Just think about how many people don’t wash their hands after using the bathroom.
February 22nd, 2006 at 8:18 pm
Jimmy says:
The same thing could be said about atm machines at banks we use all the time.
And, the main problem is the kid handing out the food they need to fix, not the one taking the order. Anytime I have had a problem, it’s because they have “forgot” something, the order is usually correct. I worked at McDonald’s years ago, and this girl who worked there routinely sent people of with the wrong order, saying they would be back.
February 23rd, 2006 at 7:44 am
Alex says:
This has happened before. In the late 80s, Arby’s tried this out. I was at an Arby’s in Colorado, and they had a text-based touch screen system, complete with those great line-graphics styles.
The funny part was that people would just kind of hang back from the terminals, like they were scared of them, because they didn’t know what to do.
The things were completely unusable for most people.
http://www.arbys.com/arb02.html
“1989 Arby’s becomes the first fast food restaurant chain to introduce Touch 2000, a computer-driven food ordering system allowing customers to order food from a touch sensitive video screen.”
Wow, it sucked hard.
Silly marketing article from 1990 about it: http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3514/is_n7_v37/ai_9283759
February 23rd, 2006 at 12:23 pm
Charles says:
Yea, the touching of the screens is an issue. But realistically, I’ve already touched the handle on the way into the place, so kiosk or no, I’m in the bathroom washing my hands. Do you think the steering wheel on the car you drove there is any more sterile? Maybe one of those hand disinfectant dispensers close to the kiosk is in order. But not RIGHT NEXT TO IT! Otherwise they’ll just stand there after they’ve ordered “washing” their hands so the next person has to wait longer.
Also, why is every cost cutting measure always considered “greed”? It’s not greed. Capitalism is the most efficient system on Earth. Environment issues notwithstanding, it ensure the most efficient and effective use of resources is used.
Granted, capitalism does play hell with choosing industry standards, but that’s to be expected.
February 23rd, 2006 at 12:45 pm
Daniel says:
There seem to be only two of these machines there. It’ll be different if each machine has 8 screens, to allow 8 different customers to order at the same time. No more waiting in line …
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November 3rd, 2006 at 10:39 am
Zack says:
I would like to propose a compromise for those who prefer talking to a real person and those who prefer not to wait behind the guy ordering the whole menu when you only want a cheeseburger:
BOTH!
Why not have 1-2 cashiers who can take orders like usual, but also have 3 kiosks where those of us who know what we want and are unashamed of paying for chicken nuggets with our Visa can do so in an efficient manner?
April 11th, 2007 at 5:15 am
Steverino says:
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again:
Give it time and America won’t make a damn thing besides fast food. Now we won’t even be taking the money. Of course the customer courtesy of the machine will match that of some of the kids out there now. Look out bank tellers, you’ll be next.
Very, very sad!
April 13th, 2007 at 9:56 am
thomas says:
yeah i can so tell you people never worked in fast food. #1 the screen will be annoying and it probably won’t work right and customers are dumb and always want special stuff won’t work.
#2 no lines 8 screens wtf you on crack you complain that speed isn’t fast enough and you want 8 people to be able to order at the same time, well then you might get you order in faster but you will be waiting longer for your food. we only make 1 order at a time not 8 sorry.
July 11th, 2007 at 12:53 am
Ryan says:
With respect to Thomas, I did tons of fast food work while I was a teenager. So far I have enjoyed using self checkout machines. A visit to sheetz showed me the future. The Sheetz concept does work. If the rest of the fast food places had a system like that I would love it. Every time I have ever ordered something even slightly out of th ordinary at burger king for instance, it is made incorrectly. The cashiers then point out that I was not charged for what ever extra item I ordered, meaning they just did not pay attention at all when I ordered in the first place. I just got tired of that and stopped ordering exotic things like double cheese burgers with onions. Those types of systems can’t arrive fast enough. It will put people out of work, that is true. Maybe it will free some more people to clean up the dirty bathrooms these places usually have. I am looking forward to the day when nobody sneers at me at the same time they say can I help you. It won’t be long at all before hey design a cooking system that will grill and fry needing only someone to fill the machine with patties, chicken and fries. I would imagine something that resembled an electronic car assembly line in a plant. When I floated the idea to a manager at Macdonalds the manager said it would not work because the customers would miss the great service and interaction. RIIIIIIIGHT
July 23rd, 2007 at 11:57 pm
jason says:
Well, it is nice to see that people are becoming ready for the next generation. I have some good new for ALL of you.
#1 - The systems are coming and will be here within the next year or two.
#2 - They will NOT replace people that already have jobs, they will be complementary and increase jobs as more cooks will be needed for higher throughput.
#3 - They are not bulky and ugly as the Taco Bell and Sheetz machines.
#4 - You will not have to wait in line when you use these systems as a special technique will be used. The problem with self checkouts at retail stores are the slow poeple in front of you. Problem solved.
A company is currently working to integrate their systems into existing systems. The future is almost here. for more information you can email me at jason@mitechguy.com
January 8th, 2008 at 11:46 pm
D.L. says:
I think this is a very fascinating idea. As a matter of fact, I am in the process of a marketing project to bring the fast food market to a whole new level through touchscreen kiosks. By the end of 2012, expect to see these systems in fast food establishments across the world.
January 11th, 2008 at 6:00 am