Restaurant POS ROI — Reduced Labor, More Profit and More Sales

Case Study of Three Example Restaurants Before and After

“Elevating Restaurant Finances: The Transformative Power of Self-Ordering Kiosks,” presents a detailed study on how self-ordering kiosks can dramatically improve financial outcomes for independently owned counter-service restaurants.​

Editor Note — Nanonation AI offers a “suggestive selling” AI tool that recommends the best combinations based on learning from orders over time…The case studies below are generally using a Samsung kiosk (Tizen OS) with Clover POS.  Something like $5000 a pop?

Purpose and Scope – Three Amigos

The paper presents three case studies—a Japanese-themed burger restaurant, a two-location taqueria, and a three-location ramen restaurant—each of which implemented self-ordering kiosks to streamline ordering and increase profitability.​

Key Findings

• Customer Adoption and Satisfaction: Kiosk use has grown rapidly, driven partly by pandemic-related trends, and customers across demographics often prefer kiosks for speed, accuracy, and improved experience.​

• Financial Investment: Each kiosk costs just under $4,000, with ongoing monthly fees. Restaurants typically install two kiosks per location for operational efficiency.​

• Labor Cost Reduction:

  • Taqueria: Saved 25 staff hours weekly, amounting to $385 per location per week.

  • Ramen Restaurant: Eliminated a staff position, saving approximately $1,050 per week.

  • Burger Restaurant: Estimated labor savings of $499 per week.

  • Average monthly labor savings reached $2,793 per location.​

• Suggestive Selling Benefits: Kiosks’ upselling features led to a consistent increase in average ticket size and overall bottom-line sales:

  • Taqueria: An average upsell raised ticket price by $6.73, increasing margin by $3 per ticket.

  • Burger Restaurant: 38% converted to combo meals, raising daily sales by $151.

  • Ramen Restaurant: Upsold items increased revenue by 6.9% and basket value by 30.6%.​

Bottom Line – ROI Analysis

• Kiosks quickly recoup initial investment—taqueria in under 7 weeks, ramen restaurant in just 4 weeks.

• Average payback period was under 6 weeks across all examples.

• Annual increase in take-home pay exceeded $72,949 per location, with the ramen restaurant reaching an annual increase of $104,013.​

Strategic Outcomes

• Self-ordering kiosks drive operational efficiency, minimize labor pressures, and boost profitability, providing significant positive impact on owner take-home pay.

• For franchise groups, kiosks accelerate break-even points and support strategic goals, despite higher upfront costs.​

Conclusion and Recommendations

• The adoption of self-ordering kiosks is strongly recommended for owner-operated and franchise restaurants seeking financial resilience and a competitive edge.

• Their proven ROI, efficiency gains, and sales enhancements make them a strategic imperative in a fast-evolving hospitality industry.

Restaurant ROI Example Articles

• Clover Kiosk POS – Restaurant ROI – 3 Examples
• Nanonation
• Retail Kiosks and their ROI
• Whitepaper – Determining ROI for Merchandising Displays and

Resources

• Clover Nanonation Samsung Case Studies

• Out the Dough saw a 15% overall revenue increase with online ordering

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• Walrus Ice Cream grew their rewards program to 3,000+ loyal customers

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