Real Life – Some People Still Stand in Line rather than Order From A Kiosk

Last Updated on April 1, 2026 by Craig Allen Keefner

Getting Users to Use Kiosks

It can be a challenging equation despite taking into all the location and situational factors.  People are used to standing in line.  They are not uses to seeing kiosks everywhere even though these days they are showing up everywhere. Recognition.  A little like going thru drive thru at McDonalds and telling them you are using your mobile app when they ask.  Extra loyalty points if nothing else.

click for full size — standing in line with kiosks

Frank Olea showed this to me on Linkedin — his comments and the ensuring discussion?

This KILLS me! Notice the long line of people and 2 Kiosks right next to them? Once I started using the kiosks and skipped the line the others did the same. You HAVE to train your staff to point out the kiosks as a way to alleviate the long lines! Or, the other options is to close the live window so they have no option. If you’re going to invest in Kiosks take it all the way and invest in training your staff so they get used. Then watch them go from 10% to 75% usage and your sales grow because it’s proven people buy more from kiosks. Admittedly placement could have been better but this is pretty damn good.

Thibaud Denolle Reinventing the customer experience and operations for restaurants.

Tim Burke

If you build it… will they come? Only if you promote it well with signage, good attract loops, promotions via the e-blast newsletters, etc. Maybe even a “get your drink size upgraded by using the kiosk” promo. But in the end… nobody reads anything… so your staff have to yell out.. “Those kiosks are available if you don’t want to wait in line!!!!”.

AJAY KUMAR JHA

One very good idea is to give priority or some special coupon or freebies. If customers find value in offer, they adapt the new process very fast. Regards,

Christoph Nussbaumer –  CEO | REINGROUP | Self-Service & Industrial Automation Innovator

Great observation, Frank! Too often, restaurant or store owners insist on placements that make no sense. Layout and staff education are crucial, and as kiosk manufacturers, it’s our responsibility to educate customers on this. It’s more than just placing hardware and software; it requires a strategic approach for a successful ROI. The question here is: Did this manufacturer provide adequate support, or was it an off-the-shelf product without a comprehensive success plan?

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Anthony M.  Vice President of Technology for Zippy’s Restaurants and member of various Technology Boards

This is why I say the kiosks must go on the counter to simulate the existing behavior as its easier to not have to train anyone (guest or teammate). Also the kiosks lines that form in the picture would intersect with the manual line. Think of the 80s and self serve vs full serve gas. Both clearly marked and side by side

I think Patrick Waiyawaytar did a great job of this over at California Fish Grill. On one of their first tests the kiosk was nowhere near the counter and so no one used it, moving to counter fixed that

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Frank Olea CEO, Olea Kiosks Inc.

Anthony M. Type of kiosk is also a huge thing and where it can be placed. Oddly this brand also has a countertop right next to the cashier so I went to watch. Same thing was happening! Perhaps this kiosks attract screen was just too static. Admittedly it was super basic and not moving. California Fish Grill Kiosks are mine! We love them, they’ve had great adoption rates.

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Chuck Wheeler Product, Service Design, UX, Strategy, Architecture, Innovation, Leadership. I help companies build and maintain complicated products.

When we started NEXTEP it was very difficult to convince franchisees that placement between the customers and the counter was crucial for success.

Even Panera Bread who spent 40m on their own project for kiosks put them off the side away from the counters (also a colossal failure) McDonalds has solved the problem by putting kiosks in the line space and removed employees from behind the counter.
We ended up having to consult with frachisees on placement as we were the experts in the industry, we knew what would work and what wouldn’t. For example Quiznos put our kiosks next to the garbage at the doorway (not kidding)

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Howard Kohnstamm CCTV Professional; VIT CCTV Training, CaP-America Coaxial Connectors, Security Integrations Inc

I dislike kiosks unless I know exacty what I want. Even then, it’s a pain to go through a dozen or so screens for a single item. After I finish my order, it asks again, “are you sure?” I can’t ask a screen about the items on the menu. I want to talk to a live person and have a human interaction. I can’t ask a screen if it’s having a good day. My wife and walked out of a well known hamburger and shake joint last week because we couldn’t understand the meanings of their various sandwich offerings. No descriptions on a menu board. None on the kiosk. No one to answer our questions. There were several others staring at their kiosks as we left and went to their competitior next door.

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Frank Olea CEO, Olea Kiosks Inc.

Howard Kohnstamm I agree with you and that’s a great example of why kiosks can be good. People that know what they want can use the kiosk while others that like the personal experience can go the traditional route without feeling any sense of rush from the people behind them. The cashier could easily state “if you know what you’d like, the kiosks are super quick to place an order”. Then those folks could jump out of line.

You are also right in that some softwares have horrible user interfaces that don’t do a thing to make life easier. Those companies need to simplify things and go for experience not flash.

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John C. Campbell IV Leader for Debit, Payments, ATM & Managed Services | 2022 ATMIA Lifetime Achievement Award | ATMIA Peer Mentor Chair for Emerging Professionals Group | Debit Payments-ATM-Networks-Core Integration-PCI Compliance Advisor

Sadly, I saw this same issue ten years back at the CU when they finally decided to put up a kiosk for member services sign in.

Unfortunately, (1) they let branch management decide what to use, (2) the facility manager didn’t want anything to do with it, and (3) despite our team directing them to several kiosk vendors (including Olea) that could fill their need, they decided to have one designed ‘in-house’, and make it look like just any other piece of furniture “to blend in with the décor”.It blended in alright…. members had no idea what it was.
Members were left to figure out how to sign-in on their own.
The clunky software was out-of-the-box that they did not vet properly.
It was overtly large, weighed a ton, and took up too much space.
It was not vented properly nor built with proper materials.
And the extra fans they added to keep it cool were too noisy.I walked in one day and found an old-fashioned clipboard with a legal pad sitting on top of the ‘kiosk.

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Frank Olea CEO, Olea Kiosks Inc.

John C. Campbell IV hilarious!

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