Last Updated on August 31, 2025 by Craig Allen Keefner
Market Update QSR Restuarants
Market Update QSR RestuarantsEditor Note: We do interviews with magazines (recently for NRN) and in those we express what we call “ad hoc” opinions based on what we have seen and heard.
For sure, QSR orders for self-service kiosks have declined in certain segments. Drive-Thru has been steady through all of this. But orders from your usual fast-casual companies serving that market and others of the world have dropped off substantially. Most places don’t allow people to come indoors so a kiosk doesn’t make sense.
There is a lot of talk that tells us there is serious pent up demand though. We think we’ll see an explosion of various kiosks as people start to re-open and look for a way to keep their costs in check.
Dealing with a machine or a phone has become primary as opposed to dealing with a person across all the verticals since the pandemic has started (healthcare for example and patient check-in).
For numbers?
My estimate is currently 40% but that number is headed down. More like 30% for the year expected as restaurants have had to really cut expenses. The decline of self-order machines’ order has stayed steady compared to other outlays. Drive-thru even more so.
When the pandemic struck (late March/early April) for comparison things came to a complete stop.
Since then we have seen people like Sonic and Taco Bell redesign their new restaurants to accommodate more mobile and drive up and pickup as opposed to in-store dining which is still problematic.
What About Point-Of-Sale?
It’s worth looking at Point-Of-Sale (POS) opportunities as well. In the SLED and Federal markets we see historically over $6B worth of opportunities, 6000 opportunities and an average value of 4M per opportunity. Right now we see 261 active opportunities. For contracts, add another $5B over 2000 contracts (1400 active).
Referenced QSR News Items
Taco Bell
https://retailsystems.org/taco-bell-drive-thru-expansion-for-mobile-customer-orders/
Sonic
https://retailsystems.org/sonic-drive-thru-gets-redesigned/
Curbside Pickup at El Pollo Loco
https://retailsystems.org/contactless-curbside-pickup-update-el-pollo-loco/
Couchcard Circle K trialing autonomous checkout (C-Stores)
https://retailsystems.org/circle-k-autonomous-checkout-technology-in-arizona-being-tested-now/
