Self Service Kiosks On the Up in Singapore's Restaurant POS Industry

New Tech Creates "Innovation Culture" in Singapore

Self service kiosks were once a thing of science fiction. People were unwilling to trade a human experience for that of a machine when being greeted at a restaurant. However, these days, with everyone having smart phones, personal computers and using e-payments, it's become more convenient and efficient to interact with self service kiosks than staff. A rise in available technology has led to a shift in Singaporean mindset aptly named "innovation culture". In Singapore, especially, which is consistently ranked as a top technological city in Asia by Google, there is little doubt that the self service kiosk's implementation is on the up.

Kiosks on the Rise Because of Singapore's Lack of F&B Staff

Singapore's fast food industry is facing a shortage of manpower, which has led to outlets like "Yoshinoya, McDonald's and BurgerUp in adopting self-ordering kiosks." Dickson Low, Popeyes Singapore's group chief operating officer, said, "We used to have three cash registers at the outlet, but we were able to hire only up to two people to man them due to the tight labor market. This led to long queues and frustrated customers." After implementing a self service kiosk system, Popeyes saw "a 10 per cent to 15 per cent increase in sales."

Self Service Kiosks and the Benefits to Singaporean Restaurants

Self Service kiosks do not necessarily require a hefty up-front investment, and will certainly be beneficial in the long run. Given that customers can visually browse through the menu, add combos and modifiers, place their orders and then even pay for everything from one single location means that restaurants can save on staff costs. The reduced number of staff required to run operations with a self service kiosk present means that the investment in a self service kiosk will pay for itself quickly. Not only that, but the reduction in human errors when order-taking will help boost turnover and increase business.

Self Service Kiosks Bring Speed, Integrated Payments and More to Singaporean Customers

Customers benefit from a faster experience in general. Given how used to interacting with screens and technology the average consumer is -especially in a metropolitan hub like Singapore- there is minimal learning curve. The ability to easily see all menu items and have a visual representation of how much the cost is, also creates a smoother experience for the customer. Finally, integrated payments means that customers can complete every stage of the ordering process rapidly, even by using locally-preferred payment methods. The addition of multiple languages is also an advantage as kiosks can be equipped with the most relevant languages in Singapore. 

How are POS systems part of the equation?

Well, a self service kiosk system still needs a POS system of some type to keep track of sales data, be it in one restaurant or across multiple locations. The best POS systems will be able to communicate and share data directly with your self service kiosks and even be able to change their menus instantly. Inventory tracking and plenty of back-office tasks still require a POS, so why not find a system that can integrate a robust POS system with the convenience of a self service kiosk?