We ordered from McDonald's kiosks to see if it's better than real cashiers and the winner is clear

[Hamartia Antidote]

I was in a McDonald's today for the first in a while (didn't do the drive-thru) and noticed the Kiosk things. Punched everything up and paid with my phone. I then realized ALL cashier jobs are doomed. Did some research and noticed these articles..

http://www.businessinsider.com/mcdonalds-kiosk-vs-cashiers-photos-2018-3

We ordered from McDonald's kiosks to see if they're better than real cashiers — and the winner is clear

Hollis Johnson/Business Insider

• Order automation is sweeping the quick-service industry, with digital kiosks and mobile-ordering apps being introduced at major chains like McDonald's, Starbucks, and Panera.
• A recent MSN poll suggests that most Americans prefer cashiers over automated kiosks.
• But automated ordering can help wait times and improve order accuracy, and it doesn't negatively affect labor as much as popularly thought.

Gone are the heady days of cashiers asking if you want your order "supersized."

Not only has the infamous upgrade gone by the wayside, but cashiers at fast-food restaurants are becoming increasingly uncommon. McDonald's started rolling out ordering kiosks at its US locations in 2015, and the chain hasn't looked back since: by 2020, most of its 14,000 locations will have kiosks installed.

Panera Bread has also committed to digital ordering. Admittedly, when I first tried it in 2015, I found it had decidedly dystopian vibes. But it ended up being a fairly pleasant and painless experience.

A recent poll conducted by Business Insider's partner MSN suggests that diners aren't big fans of automated kiosks: 78% of customers said they would be less inclined to go to a restaurant that has automated ordering kiosks.

The popular narrative is that kiosks and mobile ordering are here to take jobs and hours away from underpaid cashiers, ultimately saving companies money in the face of rising labor costs — but the data suggests that isn't true. It may be true for some, but most chains are simply reallocating labor behind the scenes. And with such a tight labor market, many chains are struggling to hire and retain customer-facing employees.

Americans don't seem too threatened by automation in general. Nationally, only 21% of responders to MSN's poll believe their job may one day be done by machines. And restaurants like automated ordering for its increased accuracy and efficiency as more chains look towards cashless options.

But for now, a question remains: are kiosks, in fact, better for customers? I headed to a McDonald's to find out:


Using the kiosks is straightforward and surprisingly user-friendly.

Hollis Johnson/Business Insider
Just touch the screen to start ordering, and there's always an assistance button below. There's usually a handful of staff members roaming the kiosk area if help is needed.

Hollis Johnson/Business Insider
The first choice is easy: will you be eating in, or grabbing your food to go?

Hollis Johnson/Business Insider
When ordering in, there are little table flags that you take with you to your table — yes, McDonald's is doing table service now. At the end of the ordering process, it'll ask for your flag number so they know which one to look for.

Hollis Johnson/Business Insider
The menu is broken into submenus: beverages, sandwiches and meals, All Day Breakfast, etc. Under these are further submenus to help you narrow in on your order: chicken, fish, burgers, or whatever else you desire.

Hollis Johnson/Business Insider
But I want some brunch to go, so the All Day Breakfast menu it is.

Hollis Johnson/Business Insider
The beauty of the kiosk really is customization: making your order the way you want it on here is much easier than repeating what you want to a cashier several times. Just hit the customize button after you've chosen the item you want, and go from there.

Hollis Johnson/Business Insider
I wanted a sausage, egg, and cheese McGriddle with a McMuffin-style "round egg" instead of the default folded egg — it's the best way to go.

Hollis Johnson/Business Insider
And if you're ordering McNuggets or tenders, don't worry: you get to choose the sauce you want. You can even get two of one sauce and one of the other — the world of kiosk customization is your proverbial oyster.

Hollis Johnson/Business Insider
When you've chosen what you want, you're ready to pay. There's a review screen that shows every customization and choice, too, so you can make sure your order is correct. There's even a calorie count ... which some may wish to ignore.

Hollis Johnson/Business Insider
Like I said, pretty straightforward stuff. You can pay at the kiosk with a debit, credit, or gift card — or most mobile payment systems — or wait in line to pay with cash or coupon.

Hollis Johnson/Business Insider
Since this is an experiment in avoiding the line, we're paying with card.

Hollis Johnson/Business Insider
The payment system itself is just like anything you'd encounter at the counter: swipe, insert, or tap.

Hollis Johnson/Business Insider
Once you've paid, the kiosk spits out a receipt with your order number on it, and you're off to wait at the pick-up counter.

Hollis Johnson/Business Insider
The lunch rush here means it's a pretty long wait — it took 10 minutes for the order to be ready.

Hollis Johnson/Business Insider
But it was easy to see that the kiosks turned over more customers more quickly. The pick-up counter was a constantly churning flurry of activity.

Hollis Johnson/Business Insider
Meanwhile, the line for the registers only grew longer with time, and it moved glacially slow. I watched people who got in line when I started ordering from the kiosk, and they only made it to the front of the line by the time I picked up my food.

Hollis Johnson/Business Insider
So, which is better? I'm used to the kiosks, so I prefer them — they're faster, more accurate, and make things easier to customize. And since workers are there to help if you're confused, I fail to see how it takes away jobs as of now.

Hollis Johnson/Business Insider


A trivial plus for McDonald's enthusiasts: kiosks make it much easier to order an enormously embarrassing spread of food. Twenty-piece box of McNuggets and a Big Mac for one, anyone?

 

[El Sidd]

Both are unhealthy

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

https://www.forbes.com/sites/realsp...-self-service-kiosks-nationwide/#13486f614fbc


Thanks To 'Fight For $15' Minimum Wage, McDonald's Unveils Job-Replacing Self-Service Kiosks Nationwide

McDonald's restaurant employees rally after walking off the job to demand a $15 per hour wage and union rights during nationwide 'Fight for $15 Day of Disruption' protests on November 29, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. (David McNew/Getty Images)

As the labor union-backed Fight for $15 begins yet another nationwide strike on November 29, I have a simple message for the protest organizers and the reporters covering them: I told you so.

It brings me no joy to write these words. The push for a $15 starter wage has negatively impacted the career prospects of employees who were just getting started in the workforce while extinguishing the businesses that employed them. I wish it were not so. But it’s important to document these consequences, lest policymakers elsewhere decide that the $15 movement is worth embracing.

Let’s start with automation. In 2013, when the Fight for $15 was still in its growth stage, I and others warned that union demands for a much higher minimum wage would force businesses with small profit margins to replace full-service employees with costly investments in self-service alternatives. At the time, labor groups accused business owners of crying wolf. It turns out the wolf was real.

Earlier this month, McDonald’s announced the nationwide roll-out of touchscreen self-service kiosks. In a video the company released to showcase the new customer experience, it’s striking to see employees who once would have managed a cash register now reduced to monitoring a customer’s choices at an iPad-style kiosk.

It’s not just McDonald’s that has embraced job-replacing technology. Numerous restaurant chains (both quick service and full service) have looked to computer tablets as a solution for rising labor costs that won't adversely impact the customer’s experience. Eatsa, a fully-automated restaurant concept, now has five locations—all in cities or states that have embraced a $15 minimum wage. And in a scene stolen from The Jetsons, the Starship delivery robot is now navigating the streets of San Francisco with groceries and other consumer goods. The company’s founder pointed to a rising minimum wage as a key factor driving the growth of his automated delivery business.

Of course, not all businesses have the capital necessary to shift from full-service to self-service. And that brings me to my next correct prediction—that a $15 minimum wage would force many small businesses to lay off staff, seek less-costly locations, or close altogether.

Tragically, these stories—in California in particular—are too numerous to cite in detail here. They include a bookstore in Roseville, a pub in Fresno, restaurants and bakeries in San Francisco, a coffee shop in Berkeley, grocery stores in Oakland, a grill in Santa Clara, and apparel manufacturers through the state. In September of this year, nearly one-quarter of restaurant closures in the Bay Area cited labor costs as one of the reasons for shutting down operations. And just this past week, a California-based communications firm announced it was moving 75 call center jobs from San Diego to El Paso, Texas, citing California’s rising minimum as the “deciding factor.” (Dozens of additional stories can be found at the website FacesOf15.com.)

A crowd of about 350 protesters stand on Broadway in front of a McDonald's restaurant, Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2016, in New York. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

Other states are also learning the same basic economic lesson: Customers have a limit to what they will pay for service. Voters in Washington, Colorado, Maine and Arizona voted to raise minimum wages on Election Day, convinced of the policy’s merits after millions of dollars were spent by union advocates. In the immediate aftermath, family-owned restaurants, coffee shops and even childcare providers have struggled to absorb the coming cost increase—with parents paying the cost through steeper childcare bills, and employees paying the cost through reduced shift hours or none at all.

The out-of-state labor groups who funded these initiatives aren’t shedding tears over the consequences. Like their Soviet-era predecessors who foolishly thought they could centrally manage prices and business operations to fit an idealistic worldview, economic reality keeps ruining the model of all gain and no pain. This brings me to my last correct prediction, which is that the Fight for $15 was always more a creation of the left-wing Service Employees International Union (SEIU) rather than a legitimate grassroots effort. Reuters reported last year that, based on federal filings, the SEIU had spent anywhere from $24 million to $50 million on the its Fight for $15 campaign, and the number has surely increased since then.

This money has bought the union a lot of protesters and media coverage. You can expect more of it on November 29. But the real faces of the Fight for $15 are the young people and small business owners who have had their futures compromised. Those faces are not happy ones.




hey @Desert Fox see what the Liberals have started.

 

[Desert Fox]

https://www.forbes.com/sites/realsp...-self-service-kiosks-nationwide/#13486f614fbc


Thanks To 'Fight For $15' Minimum Wage, McDonald's Unveils Job-Replacing Self-Service Kiosks Nationwide

McDonald's restaurant employees rally after walking off the job to demand a $15 per hour wage and union rights during nationwide 'Fight for $15 Day of Disruption' protests on November 29, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. (David McNew/Getty Images)

As the labor union-backed Fight for $15 begins yet another nationwide strike on November 29, I have a simple message for the protest organizers and the reporters covering them: I told you so.

It brings me no joy to write these words. The push for a $15 starter wage has negatively impacted the career prospects of employees who were just getting started in the workforce while extinguishing the businesses that employed them. I wish it were not so. But it’s important to document these consequences, lest policymakers elsewhere decide that the $15 movement is worth embracing.

Let’s start with automation. In 2013, when the Fight for $15 was still in its growth stage, I and others warned that union demands for a much higher minimum wage would force businesses with small profit margins to replace full-service employees with costly investments in self-service alternatives. At the time, labor groups accused business owners of crying wolf. It turns out the wolf was real.

Earlier this month, McDonald’s announced the nationwide roll-out of touchscreen self-service kiosks. In a video the company released to showcase the new customer experience, it’s striking to see employees who once would have managed a cash register now reduced to monitoring a customer’s choices at an iPad-style kiosk.

It’s not just McDonald’s that has embraced job-replacing technology. Numerous restaurant chains (both quick service and full service) have looked to computer tablets as a solution for rising labor costs that won't adversely impact the customer’s experience. Eatsa, a fully-automated restaurant concept, now has five locations—all in cities or states that have embraced a $15 minimum wage. And in a scene stolen from The Jetsons, the Starship delivery robot is now navigating the streets of San Francisco with groceries and other consumer goods. The company’s founder pointed to a rising minimum wage as a key factor driving the growth of his automated delivery business.

Of course, not all businesses have the capital necessary to shift from full-service to self-service. And that brings me to my next correct prediction—that a $15 minimum wage would force many small businesses to lay off staff, seek less-costly locations, or close altogether.

Tragically, these stories—in California in particular—are too numerous to cite in detail here. They include a bookstore in Roseville, a pub in Fresno, restaurants and bakeries in San Francisco, a coffee shop in Berkeley, grocery stores in Oakland, a grill in Santa Clara, and apparel manufacturers through the state. In September of this year, nearly one-quarter of restaurant closures in the Bay Area cited labor costs as one of the reasons for shutting down operations. And just this past week, a California-based communications firm announced it was moving 75 call center jobs from San Diego to El Paso, Texas, citing California’s rising minimum as the “deciding factor.” (Dozens of additional stories can be found at the website FacesOf15.com.)

A crowd of about 350 protesters stand on Broadway in front of a McDonald's restaurant, Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2016, in New York. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

Other states are also learning the same basic economic lesson: Customers have a limit to what they will pay for service. Voters in Washington, Colorado, Maine and Arizona voted to raise minimum wages on Election Day, convinced of the policy’s merits after millions of dollars were spent by union advocates. In the immediate aftermath, family-owned restaurants, coffee shops and even childcare providers have struggled to absorb the coming cost increase—with parents paying the cost through steeper childcare bills, and employees paying the cost through reduced shift hours or none at all.

The out-of-state labor groups who funded these initiatives aren’t shedding tears over the consequences. Like their Soviet-era predecessors who foolishly thought they could centrally manage prices and business operations to fit an idealistic worldview, economic reality keeps ruining the model of all gain and no pain. This brings me to my last correct prediction, which is that the Fight for $15 was always more a creation of the left-wing Service Employees International Union (SEIU) rather than a legitimate grassroots effort. Reuters reported last year that, based on federal filings, the SEIU had spent anywhere from $24 million to $50 million on the its Fight for $15 campaign, and the number has surely increased since then.

This money has bought the union a lot of protesters and media coverage. You can expect more of it on November 29. But the real faces of the Fight for $15 are the young people and small business owners who have had their futures compromised. Those faces are not happy ones.




hey @Desert Fox see what the Liberals have started.

I think this was bound to happen at some point. But it was retarded for liberals to push for turning minimum wage jobs intended for highschool and college age students into a full-fleged career by asking for higher wages.

Though honestly speaking, the workers who clean the bathrooms definitely deserve a high pay for what they do because I've seen some disgusting sh!t (I mean that both literally and metaphorically) in McDonald's bathrooms and public bathrooms in general.

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

But it was retarded for liberals to push for turning minimum wage jobs intended for highschool and college age students into a full-fleged career by asking for higher wages.

Exactly! These are simple jobs teens can do to put some quick money in their pockets...not some job to raise a family on. Now an avalanche of ditching cashiers is going to occur leaving less opportunities for young adults.

Though honestly speaking, the workers who clean the bathrooms definitely deserve a high pay for what they do because I've seen some disgusting sh!t (I mean that both literally and metaphorically) in McDonald's bathrooms and public bathrooms in general.

They'll simply figure out how to get rid of them. Make it like a Chinese take-out restaurant.

 

[siegecrossbow]

Not just cashiers, but potentially servers and even cooks are doomed as well as AI becomes more powerful.

 

[Avicenna]

Not just cashiers, but potentially servers and even cooks are doomed as well as AI becomes more powerful.

Basic income anyone?

 

[Śakra]

Once we automate everything what will people do? The only safe jobs are doctors (for how long?), engineers, and businessmen.

 

[sparten]

The ones in Pakistan are pretty sweet. Although frankly from what I can tell the servers prefer they since it frees them up to do other jobs.

 

[Zibago]

Once we automate everything what will people do? The only safe jobs are doctors (for how long?), engineers, and businessmen.

And lawyers dont forget the blood sucking leaches

 

[Śakra]

And lawyers dont forget the blood sucking leaches

True. They’ll find a way to make it illegal to automate their jobs.