IS IT STILL FAST FOOD WHEN YOU’RE DOING THE WORK?

If you’re hitting your favorite fast food spot you’ll likely be put to work…ordering. A few years ago customers at fast food chains bypassed kiosks for the human order-takers. But times are changing. That’s due in large part to mandated minimum wage hikes and rising food costs. Rather than pay their staffers the required $20 an hour wage in California, the chains are laying off employees and replacing them with kiosks inside the restaurants. Some customers say there’s nothing fast about the kiosks, especially when it takes longer to scroll through endless menus rather than ordering directly from a staffer at the counter. But fast food owners are big believers in the digital age. One businessman who owns 140 Burger King franchises in California says he can’t roll out kiosks fast enough. He had originally planned to install them in all of his locations within the next several years but has stepped up that timeline. He now plans to have the digital servers in all his restaurants within the next couple of months. They’re expected to cut down on worker hours, eliminate overtime and minimize price hikes.

Interestingly, surveys show those who order digitally actually spend more money than ordering from an employee. Partly the mouthwatering pictures and also the upsell. And they have more time, not feeling rushed by someone standing behind them. Chains can collect personal data through kiosks, enable on-screen marketing and if the customer eats in house there’s less food packaging. Also usage of the self-ordering machines picks up when the machine takes cash. But getting patrons into the actual brick-and-mortar chains could be a challenge when drive-thru usage is so popular.

Roughly 60% of McDonald’s and Chick-Fil-A business is conducted via the drive-thru lanes. Hungry patrons are willing to spend an average of 6 minutes of their time in the drive-thru. If they’re looking for the fastest chain that’s Taco Bell with an average wait time of 4 minutes. Some of the new CosMc’s (from the McDonald’s universe) offer only drive thru lanes. There’s also talk of using robots to serve your food. Meantime the president of West Coast burger chain In-N-Out has vowed to protect prices. The chain has no plans for any drastic price increases or digital ordering according to their president who feels obligated to protect their loyal customers.