We have all visited mall food courts. Large spaces with tons of different restaurant options to choose from, often having long lines and crowded dining areas. The restaurants range from popular fast food to lesser-known food chains.
However, with COVID-19 forcing public spaces to enforce strict social distancing policies, the beloved food courts will not be the same for a long time. When malls begin to reopen, managers must think of new ways to open food courts to the public safely. One of the best ways to ensure safety is the installation of a food court kiosk.
The Future of Shopping Mall Kiosks in Food Courts
We are now entering an era of contactless food ordering, and with self-order kiosks, this ordering method has never been easier. Mall food courts can install self-ordering kiosks to reduce lines, increase revenue, and allow customers to choose precisely what they want.
Self-ordering kiosks help eliminate unnecessary human contact between customers and employees, help mitigate crowding, and get rid of cash exchange entirely. Additionally, a mall kiosk design allows families to order different cuisines and easily pay for all their meals at one centrally located mall food kiosk.
The installation of self-ordering kiosks is the next step in keeping mall food courts safe, clean, and efficient for years to come.
Everyone loves to munch on some free samples when walking around the mall food court. These samples help restaurants attract more customers. However, samples are an easy way to spread germs, and it costs restaurants money to provide these free tasters. A self-service food kiosk in the mall eliminates the instances where customers ask you to let them try a bite before they buy, such as at Auntie Anne’s.
How Self-Serve Shopping Mall Kiosks Will Redefine the Retail Experience
While there are several benefits to implementing a self-serve shopping mall kiosk, here are 3 that are redefining the retail industry.
Switching to a Contactless Payment System
Self-servicing kiosks will work well in a post-pandemic world as your restaurant switches to contactless ordering. Cashless or touchless payment systems are the new norm as consumers prefer contactless ordering systems.
According to a study in 2021, 62% of the retailers mentioned that their customers prefer to pay via contactless or mobile payment app. The COVID-19 pandemic gives businesses a perfect reason to adopt and develop innovative strategies and fulfill customers’ demand for contactless payment. This is where a mall kiosk comes into the picture.
A shopping mall kiosk is a transformation that enables retailers and restaurants to facilitate online shopping. On the monetary front, your business can free up the order taking and payment processing staff and reassign labor to more productive and value-adding roles.
A food kiosk in the mall will also help attract more customers as you display the menu where they are, instead of them coming to your serving counter.
Benefits both Business and Customers
Mall food kiosks are delivering results for retailers, restaurants, and customers alike. A food court kiosk will expand and improve your customers’ shopping experience. The easy-to-use and quick ordering service with rapid collection or delivery of the food will also help your restaurant serve more customers in a short period of time. In fact, more and more businesses are joining in on the rise of ghost kitchens as they can easily be integrated into a mall setting with food kiosks.
You can now manage your restaurant with more agility while reducing your labor cost as you do not need to hire extra staff during busy seasons or hours. Simply use the existing staff on more operational tasks and enhance your productivity and performance to serve more customers. This, in return, will also increase your revenue in no time.
You can even boost your revenue by using an intuitive food court kiosk. These modern kiosks can gather customer data, learn from it, and then recommend additional food items based on the customer’s preferences. This way, your employees do not have to come across as too salesy at the counters; the food kiosk in the mall will do all the upselling for you.
Why Self-Ordering Food Court Kiosks Is a Revolutionary Idea
As you must know by now, self-serving food kiosks in mall are not exactly a new concept. Some of the major restaurants and food chains have been using the food court kiosk technology for a while now. For instance, McDonald’s has been using mall kiosk designs and reported that using this technology increased the sales by 5% to 6% on average.
If you are an entrepreneur thinking about opening a restaurant or an outlet in a food court, you just have to decide on one thing, i.e., where to start a restaurant. This is because your location will determine the amount of business your restaurant or food chain will get.
That said, there has been a spike in sales through self-serving kiosks because of the labor shortage and changes in consumer behavior. The online retailing and food ordering services have spoiled the customers with convenience and easy-to-order processes. Thus, customers now bring that same level of increased expectations to the shopping malls.
This puts the restaurants in food courts in a unique position wherein they must meet consumer expectations pro-actively, and mall kiosk designs can help in this endeavor. Most of the customers out there are Millennials and Gen Z who seek greater control over how they would like to order their food.
However, a study by Tillster discovered that not just the younger generation but customers of all age groups prefer to use self-service mall food kiosks. The reason is that it helps them avoid long queues and long waiting times.
By the time they order the food via shopping mall kiosk and head to your outlet, the food will already be ready to deliver.
No wonder why 65% of the customers say that they would prefer to visit a restaurant offering a self-service food kiosk.
Conclusion
Now that you are aware of how the shopping mall kiosk is shaping up the restaurant and retail industry, it is time to figure out how feasible it is for you to deploy this technology. If you are looking for a comprehensive solution that can integrate into your existing system, then GRUBBRR can help.
From self-serving food kiosks in the mall or mall kiosk design within your restaurant, GRUBBRR offers a wide array of solutions that are customizable to your business needs. Request a demo with us today at grubbrr.com.