Airports, post offices and big-box retailers have long been using touch-screen kiosks and self-checkout lanes to give customers more freedom, ease long lines and, in some cases, cut labor costs.
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Now that technology is beginning to translate into the quick-service restaurant industry, and Star Chasers Oklahoma Inc., the statewide local franchiser of Carl's Jr., is leading the way.
Over the past year, Star Chasers Oklahoma has installed touch-screen kiosks in 31 of its 39 restaurants in Oklahoma and Wichita Falls, Texas, making it one of the few quick-service restaurant chains in the country to use the self-service model at a franchisee or corporate level.
"There's no other restaurant chain in this part of the country that has them,” said Troy Beats, vice president of marketing for Star Chasers Oklahoma. "At the time we started this test, which was less than a year ago — and things have changed rapidly — the closest of this type of kiosk machine was either in Denver or in Chicago or in Houston.”
Using the same technology as other self-service systems, these contactless payment kiosks include colorful, animated touch-screen menus that give customers the option to browse through the entire menu, customize their order and finally pay with cash or a credit card — which is why customers keep coming back, Beats said.
"We get bigger and bigger menus, and we have the same size wall,” he said. "Those get so small that you can't even see them from the counter. The advantage of the kiosk is that you walk up to it, and you can look on every single ingredient on every single product and decide what you want to take off yourself or put on yourself.”
If customers need help or don't want to use the kiosks, they have that option too.
"We basically give people three points of order entry,” Beats said. "They can do it themselves. We'll do it for them at the kiosk, or they can still walk up to the register at the front counter, and we'll take an order.”
Star Chasers Oklahoma began installing kiosks in four of its restaurants in Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Marietta and Elk City in 2006, shortly after it purchased some of the company-operated Carl's Jr. restaurants from Carpinteria, Calif.-based CKE Restaurants Inc., which owns the Carl's Jr., Hardee's, Green Burrito and Red Burrito brands.
After those initial test restaurants, the company continued to add a set of kiosks to four or five restaurants a month and just installed three at its newest location in downtown Oklahoma City. Star Chasers Oklahoma does not plan to add kiosks to the remaining eight locations.
One of the largest fast-food chains to incorporate the technology on a corporate level is San Diego-based Jack in the Box, which owns more than 2,000 restaurants in 17 states. Other quick-service restaurants, like Burger King and McDonald's, have also tested touch-screen kiosks in select restaurants.
Both Jack in the Box and Star Chasers use software from leading provider EMN8, a San Diego-based company that believes the integration of touch-screen kiosks in quick-service restaurants is only beginning.
"It's still in the early stages of commercial uptake, but the prevailing sentiment is its time has come,” said Jeffrey Donahue, EMN8's chief financial officer.
Beats said even though the kiosks are difficult to staff during high traffic times, the benefits are multifold: it's an easier way to educate customers on the menu; it increases the accuracy of each order; and it brings in new customers.
Douglas Carnes recently used one of the kiosks for the first time at the Carl's Jr. at 3232 S Broadway in Edmond and said he'll likely use it again.
"That way I know my order's getting done,” said Carnes, who is hearing impaired. "I guess I was at McDonald's when I ordered some chicken fingers, and they gave me a chicken sandwich. That's not what I wanted, so it was a miscommunication between us.
"This is a lot easier to see what I'm ordering and get the order right.”
Beats said it depends on the person's preference whether they use the kiosks or the counter, but most people prefer the kiosks.
"We have a lot of breakfast customers that are — I wouldn't say they're really technology gurus because they're usually a little bit older; however, a lot of them have liked them,” he said. "They're a segment of the population you generally wouldn't think would enjoy them.”
Skyler Moore, 17, said he frequents Carl's Jr. weekly with his friends but always heads straight to the counter.
"I don't like the whole machine thing too much,” Moore said. "I'd rather just talk to a person.”
While these are the only Carl's Jr. restaurants to use the kiosks, CKE Restaurants Inc. will launch several test locations in California later this year, said Lori Abou Habib, a regional marketing director for Carl's Jr.
Beats said it will probably take at least five years for other fast-food chains in Oklahoma to pick up the technology.
"I don't know if it's the future of fast food or not,” he said. "I do believe we have to find other ways to make our guests feel comfortable, and I really think the counters in the future are going away in every location.”
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Manager Amber Martin assists customer Jeanie Etris, 30, with a touch-screen kiosk in Carl's Jr., 3232 S Broadway in Edmond. By Sara Ganus, The Oklahoman
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