Nice demo of Alexa self-order integration by Pyramid Technologies. Includes employee voice command and response sequences with Alexa combined with beacon technology for locating the customer.
INGENICO AND PYRAMID ANNOUNCEMENT
From Forbes article Self-Order Kiosks Are Finally Having A Moment In The Fast Food Space July 30, 2019
Excerpt:
In 2010, I wrote an article titled “Quick-service restaurant kiosks: What’s taking so long?”
The gist was that although major players like Subway, McDonald’s, Burger King and Arby’s started experimenting with kiosks in 2006, we had yet to see mass adoption in the restaurant space, despite kiosks’ rapid deployments in airports, grocery stores and casinos.
In technology terms, it has since been a lifetime. However, kiosks finally seem to be having their moment in the quick-service space.
New research from Tillster shows that 25% of restaurant customers have used a self-ordering kiosk at a restaurant within the past three months—up 7% year-over-year. Further, more than 65% of customers said they would visit a restaurant more often if self-service kiosks were offered, and 30% of customers prefer to order from a kiosk versus a cashier if the lines were of equal length.
Other notes
More Information McDonalds News Watch
Excerpt from Nation’s Restaurant News June 17, 2019
Editor’s Note: How China tariffs might affect this are in play.
On the heels of rolling out delivery nationwide in February, Taco Bell has quietly installed kiosks in about 4,000 restaurants.
Rob Poetsch, spokesman for the Irvine, Calif.-based chain, said the brand is on track to complete the national rollout of kiosks by the end of this year. The company has about 6,600 U.S. locations.
Less than a year into the deployment, the new 22-inch monitors are already winning accolades.
Taco Bell’s consumer-facing technology efforts are in full force this year.
On the heels of rolling out delivery nationwide in February, Taco Bell has quietly installed kiosks in about 4,000 restaurants.
Taco Bell kiosks are now in 4,000 U.S. locations. (Photo: Taco Bell)
Taco Bell developed the application for the 22-inch touchmonitor. The chain has remote monitoring via a secure cloud-based platform for remote management of the kiosks through Android devices.
For Taco Bell, the award is years in the making. The company has been testing various versions of kiosks, only recently settling on a format that it said works for its consumers.
Rafik Hanna, senior director of information technology at Taco Bell, said the company “strives to stay relevant with customers’ ever-changing preferences.”
Asian Grill, known for its authentic regional cuisines, has recently implemented XPR’s self ordering kiosks and mobile application to help automate the ordering process. Along with the new equipment throughout the kitchen to help relay orders to the staff, these changes have helped to improve operational efficiency, check averages, and the overall customer experience.
XPR’s kiosks have a simple, yet appealing interface to increase guest satisfaction. Upon entering the restaurant, customers can easily skip the line and use either of the 2 large self ordering solutions. There the customer can build and submit their orders. If they are paying with credit card the customer can pay using the readers attached to the kiosk. If they wish to pay by cash a receipt is printed with a barcode that can then be taken to the cashier station to complete payment. Customers can also place order at the register if they wish to do so. There are 2 large menu boards above the register with high resolution images to help sell the menu items.
Asian Grill is also using a XPR’s mobile app which allows customers to order from their mobile devices, securely pay by credit card, and have their order ready for pickup when they arrive at the restaurant.
From menus curated to individuals’ dietary needs to offers that adjust in real time to trends and even weather patterns, here’s how top food names like Sonic and THE.FIT are using AI to enable tailored food experiences
Today’s consumers have more food options than ever. The ordering experience is incredibly important, and a good one can keep customers coming back time and time again. To help guests navigate drive-thru menus, companies like Sonic, McDonalds, and THE.FIT have incorporated AI into their ordering to create a seamless transaction.
Taken from PSFK’s Food Service Debrief report, take a look at how these innovators have redesigned ordering to offer personalization and enhanced convenience:
Sonic, Mastercard and ZIVELO
Global payment company Mastercard has partnered with self-service kiosk technology provider ZIVELO to trial AI-based voice ordering at select locations of the drive-in chain Sonic. At the restaurant, guests place their orders with an AI-powered voice assistant, while an integrated digital menu display can be customized in real time, taking into account context, like weather, time of day, season and location, as well as specific customer preferences. The system aims to streamline repeat orders and use data to offer personalized suggestions and loyalty rewards that are more relevant.
Excerpt from BakeMag Jun article. Read full article
According to an IHL Services research, 96% of adults aged 18-39 favored self-kiosks for food ordering. With Tapit, single restaurant locations or large chains can meet this demand and affordably install Selfit’s feature-rich, highly customizable and scalable technology.
Excerpt from BakeMag Jun article. Read full article
Self Order Kiosk Solutions Take Center Stage at Restaurant Show
Reprinted with permission in full from CNBC May 2019 & Amelie Lucas
On Thursday, McDonald’s opened a new flagship store in Times Square, expected to be its busiest in the U.S.
The location showcases the modern updates that McDonald’s has been bringing to its U.S. stores. It boasts digital menu boards, 18 self-order kiosks and wireless mobile charging stations at tables.
The high-tech upgrades are part of its strategy to drive sales by bringing customers back to its stores. The renovations are meant to improve convenience for the customer and modernize the look of the restaurants.
McDonald’s originally scheduled all U.S. store renovations to be complete in 2020 but pushed the deadline back to 2022. In 2018, McDonald’s spent $1.4 billion to remodel around 4,500 restaurants. This year, spending is expected to drop to about $1 billion to upgrade 2,000 locations.
On its first-quarter earnings call, executives said that it is finally seeing a “net positive impact” from store renovations that made up for the necessary store closures.
Here’s a look at the new flagship store:
When customers enter the location, the sight of self-order kiosks greet them. Employees are also available to take orders and payment.
Times Square sees about 50 million visitors annually. In anticipation of such high demand, McDonald’s has three floors — and plenty of seating.
On the second floor, self-order kiosks are also available to order any forgotten items.
The interior’s modern, simple look is meant to contrast with the flashing billboards and bustle outside in Times Square, according to Max Carmona, McDonald’s senior director of global design and development. Its glass exterior gives customers a great view of that activity.
Original article by Elliot Maras published on KioskMarketplace May 2019
The self-service drumbeat rattled Chicago’s McCormick Place last week as attendees swarmed exhibits promising faster customer service. This year’s National Restaurant Show showcased even more interactive kiosks (39 exhibitors) than last year’s record-breaking 36 exhibitors. Less than a third of this year’s companies (11 exhibitors) were repeats from last year, indicating the market continues to attract new interest.
Kiosk hardware and software manufacturers have heeded the call from restaurants looking to automate the customer order to deliver a more satisfying guest experience, boost sales and make more efficient use of store labor. And while established kiosk providers were once again well represented on the trade show floor, restaurant POS software companies have also entered the fray in a big way.
Once again, many of the kiosks on display integrate with other front-of-the-house and back-of-the-house touchpoints, such as online ordering, mobile ordering, loyalty rewards, customer messaging, order delivery, ingredient and nutrient content, kitchen display systems, inventory management, labor management and more. Foodservice operators have clearly recognized interactive kiosks as one part of a customer experience ecosystem rather than an isolated guest interface.
And while self-order kiosks dominated the presentations, artificial intelligence is allowing additional capabilities such as allergen lookup and guest location.
Highlights of KI Sponsors
Pyramid Computer GmbH presented its Pyramid Location System that saves guests from having to wait in line after placing their order. The customer can order and pay at the self-order kiosk, which dispenses a puck. The customer then places the puck on the bar and chooses a seat while their order is prepared. The system will recognize their location when their order is ready, allowing a server to serve the customer accurately at their table. The system was presented in the Intel booth.
 |
| Larry Kron of Pyramid Computer GmbH demonstrates the Pyramid Location System kiosk at the Intel booth. |
Zivelo LLC presented a prototype of its X2 Slim kiosk which offers a larger screen size compared to pole-mounted tablets without taking up too much counter width. There is also an X2 Extended model that takes up the same amount of counter width but has a deeper component door to allow for additional components such as a printer.
 |
| Mike Moon presents a prototype of the X2 Slim kiosk. |
Frank Mayer and Associates Inc. demonstrated a self-order kiosk the company designed for a food truck using KioWare POS software. The software works on Windows and Android, and features browser lockdown. The customizable and EMV-compliant kiosk was demonstrated in the ADUSA Inc.booth.
 |
| David Anzia of Frank Mayer and Associates Inc. presents a food truck self-order kiosk in the ADUSA booth. |
Appetize presented its Interact kiosk which is part of a comprehensive POS, inventory and analytics package. The company’s kiosk line includes an Android-based solution, 15- and 20-inch landscape touchscreen options, countertop and freestanding models, and support for barcode scanners, printers and payment devices.
 |
| Jeff Brown presents the Appetize Interact kiosk. |
Highlighted companies included:
Read entire article on KioskMarketplace
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Press release from BusinessWire May 09, 2019
PLAYA VISTA, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Appetize, the modern Point of Sale (POS) and enterprise management platform, today announced strong results from its self-service kiosk technology seeing up to 40% increase in order size across its customer base. Appetize is at the forefront of a growing industry shift toward self-service kiosks and has recently expanded its kiosk reach with new customers Louisiana State University (LSU), AT&T Center, home of the San Antonio Spurs, and SSA (Service Systems Associates), foodservice provider for the Cincinnati Museum Center and other attractions.
Self-Service Kiosks from @appetizepos Deliver Up to 40% Lift in Orders. Announces New Customers @Attcenter, @lsu and more
Appetize’s Interact self-service platform offers embedded upsell functionality and data shows that consumers are 47% more likely to add an item on a kiosk than when asked to do so by a cashier. The company is seeing consistent results from kiosks across multiple industries, including attractions, education campuses, restaurants, and sports and entertainment facilities.
“We have been working with Appetize since 2017 and recently deployed kiosks to enhance our food service and offer a more convenient and frictionless experience for our students and guests,” said Matthew LaBorde, Assistant AD from LSU. “Appetize made it extremely easy for us to deploy a self-service platform and shift toward the future of ordering at athletic events.”
“Our customers are focused on two things: guest experience and financial performance. The Appetize Interact platform offers a modern and dynamic digital experience for guests while driving increased share of wallet for the business,” said Max Roper, Co-founder and CEO at Appetize. “In the past six months, over 45% of our deployments have included self-service kiosks, and we expect this trend to continue as businesses require more automation and consumers desire a more frictionless experience.”
Designed to enhance the guest experience and increase staff productivity, Appetize’s cloud-based self-service platform, Interact, gives businesses an intuitive checkout interface with custom menu ordering and branding for both Quick Serve and Retail environments. The platform also includes a back of house management suite, real-time connectivity for fulfillment and cashless payment experience, and more.
Appetize is a modern Point of Sale, inventory and analytics platform transforming how enterprises manage and process guest transactions. With an omni-channel approach, Appetize makes front of house transactions more intuitive through fixed, self-serve and handheld form factors, while providing robust kitchen and back office tools. Appetize is trusted by some of the largest and highest volume businesses in the world, including sports and entertainment properties, education campuses, theme parks, travel and leisure sites, and national chain brands. For more information, please visit getappetize.com.
Appetize ContactsAppetize
kathryn.kelly@appetizeapp.com
Melissa Rossiter
Appetize
melissa.rossiter@appetizeapp.com
Editors Note: One of the main kiosk providers for Appetize is Olea Kiosks.
The Canadian McDonald’s app, called My McD’s, is just the latest target for cyber criminals. Last year, they were busy stealing Aeroplan and PC Optimum rewards points from some members’ online accounts. Many of the fraudsters involved in PC Optimum cases also carried out their crimes in Quebec.
Cybersecurity expert Ritesh Kotak said that in the digital era, companies need to pull out all the stops to protect consumers from cyber criminals.
“We’re moving to a cashless society,” said Ritesh who’s based in Toronto. “They put all this money into app development, are they putting the same amount of money and rigour and research into the security component of it?”
Two friends in Australia appear to have cracked the McDonald’s kiosk system, allowing them to score a free burger. A YouTube video shows the pals taking advantage of a burger discount by tricking the machine.
In the video, they order 10 burgers for $1 each using the kiosks. Then, they remove the meat from the ten burgers, which discounts each of the burgers by $1.10—leaving enough surplus to cover the cost of a regularly priced burger at McDonald’s.
Published March 25th Yahoo News
[April 1st update — McDonalds makes a second purchase. This time it is mobile software. The burger giant is making a $3.7 million minority investment in the New Zealand-based company Plexure]
Excerpt
The Golden Arches revealed Monday its biggest acquisition in more than 20 years, acquiring privately held tech platform Dynamic Yield. McDonald’s didn’t disclose a purchase price but a source close to the matter said McDonald’s plunked down in excess of $300 million for Dynamic Yield.
McDonald’s CEO Steve Easterbrook sold the acquisition as a means to be similar to the web experiences offered by Amazon, Best Buy or Walmart.
“When we reflect on the last four years, our owner/operators, our developmental licensees, and the corporation, we’ve all invested into the necessary technology to make the overall customer experience more relevant, easier, more enjoyable, with the ultimate aim for a much more personalized experience,” Easterbrook said in an internal video to employees and franchisees obtained by Yahoo Finance.
“When we get onto websites like Amazon, or Best Buy, or Walmart.com, as you place your cursor over an item and click, and it enters your shopping basket, it automatically suggests other items that are associated with that. This technology can work with the intelligent menu boards we have,” Easterbrook added.
He also thinks the technology will help ease congestion of the drive-thru at peak times, which is always a problem for McDonald’s.
Editors Note: We originally reported this on November 28 and continued to monitor this story from the UK to see how it developed. It originated on the tabloid website — https://metro.co.uk/ which generally publishes things that only some people on Facebook are looking to believe.
The article below came out on a tabloid and it certainly bears a closer inspection before taking it at face value.
See the subsequent No The Screens are not contaminated article on Washington Post. Thank you Washington Post!
Then there is Science Alert.
Not that screens don’t need to be cleaned. They do. And they are treated with antimicrobial treatments to ensure they stay as clean as possible.
Editors Note: It is amazing to us the number of top-tier, presumably news organizations that felt compelled to excerpt a tabloid site and push it out to the masses though. Maybe our current President is correct in some fashion here. They need to revisit their ethics. Being first and being the most extreme in delivery can reverse the criminal act here in our opinion. I don’t eat at McDonalds but I do read the news. I’d rather not read tabloids or a rehash of one.
Sad to see kiosk niche sites propagate this with no restraint. Are they working for the self-service industry or for a buck? Appears to be a buck…
Excerpt: “Poo found on every McDonald’s touch screen tested.”
So says a tabloid headline that conjures an image of stool smeared on McDonald’s self-order touch screens ― you know, those giant screens that people touch just before they eat their cheeseburgers.
But the reality is far more mundane, not the public health pandemonium this headline suggests.
No, there is no poop on McDonald’s touch screens. There are, however, bacteria — a lot of them. These are the same bacteria that live in people’s gut, intestines, nose, skin, mouth, throat and, yes, stool. Some live in soil and water. The article with the aforementioned headline lists the harmful bacteria that were found on the touch screens of several McDonald’s restaurants in the London area. It notes the infections and diseases people could get from them.
Also — The McDonalds order kiosk manufacturers in the US, Canada and Rest of World are using a special hardened AntiGrafitti powder coating which is resistant against aggressive, disinfecting cleaning substances. It is unknown what kind of surface treatment is used or done by the UK manufacturer.
Maintenance and design are critical steps and even more critical when it is a multi-national deployment that involves multiple providers in the supply chain. We would estimate as high as 7-10 kiosk manufacturers involved across the world. This incident is just some restaurants in the UK.
Here is our page on Antibacterial for reference and also see our recent post on Clean Kiosks.
These strains of bacteria are not “an active threat to human health but something to be monitored,” one of the study’s authors said in a statement.
Additional excerpt: Matewele said he did not intend to place any blame on the fast-food giant and only wanted to raise awareness, especially among people who consume food at restaurants or other public places.
“If people know about it, they can do something. … They can probably take something like an anti-bacterial cleanser,” Matewele said.
In a statement, McDonald’s said: “Our self-order screens are cleaned frequently throughout the day with a sanitizer solution. All of our restaurants also provide facilities for customers to wash their hands before eating.”
Traces of feces have been found on every single McDonald’s touchscreen swabbed in an investigation by metro.co.uk. Samples were taken from the new machines that have been rolled out at restaurants across the country – every one of them had coliforms.
Metro.co.uk’s study with the university’s school of human sciences involved swabs taken from eight McDonald’s restaurants. Six in London and two in Birmingham.
A McDonald’s spokesman said: ‘Our self-order screens are cleaned frequently throughout the day. All of our restaurants also provide facilities for customers to wash their hands before eating.’
Full tabloid article with pictures
More on McDonalds Kiosk Self-Order
 | Craig is a senior staff writer for Kiosk Industry Group Association. He has 25 years of experience in the industry. He contributed to this article. |
FOR IMMEDIATE USE
Scottsdale, AZ (October 2, 2018) – World-class kiosk manufacturer ZIVELO (best known for providing kiosks to McDonald’s across North America) is proud to announce the completion of a Distribution Partnership with BlueStar to streamline the company’s ability to meet increasing demand.
Founded in 1929 with a network of over 12,000 value added resellers, Bluestar is a leading global technology distributor of a variety of solutions, including Point-of-Sale, ADC, RFID, Digital Signage, kiosks, and more.
“We are excited to align with ZIVELO to bring enhanced kiosk technology to our customers within the channel,” says Mark Fraker, VP of marketing with BlueStar. “Through this partnership, BlueStar will be more capable than ever of filling the needs of our resellers in all verticals, providing complete kiosk solutions to fit any demand or situation.”
ZIVELO, a public computing technology company that offers self-service kiosks and digital signage solutions to multiple key industries, is poised to leverage this best-in-class partnership to meet the needs of the Channel.
“With rapidly growing demand for ZIVELO from the Channel, we are pleased to announce our strategic distribution partnership with BlueStar. Channel partners will now be able to leverage BlueStar’s best-in-class distribution capabilities to provide ZIVELO’s full-service turn-key solutions to their clients” says Ryan Lagace, ZIVELO’s VP of Strategic Partnerships.
With BlueStar’s strong purchasing power and global distribution capabilities, ZIVELO looks to improve efficiencies and meet demand in their robust QSR and Retail verticals, while expanding verticals such as banking, healthcare, hospitality, many more with our new Value Added Reseller (VAR) partners.
“This has been a groundbreaking year for ZIVELO” says ZIVELO CEO, Healey Cypher. “ZIVELO has been long-established as a global leader in beautiful world-class kiosk hardware. With this year’s addition of OakOS – the first kiosk-only SDK and operating system – plus new services and financing arms, ZIVELO is truly a full-service kiosk partner for any company looking to join the self-service revolution.”
For more information about ZIVELO, visit www.zivelo.com.
###
Media Contact:
Mary McCauley
877-494-8356
press@zivelo.com
About ZIVELO
ZIVELO’s mission is to revolutionize the way brands use technology to interact with their consumers on-premise and in the physical world. Founded in 2008, ZIVELO has rapidly grown to become the leading self-service technology brand offering a sleek and sophisticated product design, intuitive user experience, and cutting-edge modular hardware solutions. In 2018, ZIVELO acquired Oak Labs, the creators of OakOS – the world’s first operating system for public computing experiences. Through the acquisition, ZIVELO now provides brands with an end-to-end solution for the roll-out of kiosks and digital signage, including hardware, sortware, services, and financing. ZIVELO is headquartered in Scottsdale, AZ, with offices in San Francisco, CA and Seattle, WA. For more information, please visit http://www.zivelo.com/.
About BlueStar
BlueStar is the leading global distributor of solutions-based Digital Identification, Mobility, Point-of-Sale, RFID, Digital Signage, and Security technology. BlueStar works exclusively with value-added resellers, providing them with complete solutions, business development and marketing support. The company brings unequaled expertise to the market, offers award-winning technical support and is an authorized service center for a growing number of manufacturers. BlueStar is the exclusive distributor for the In-a-Box Solutions Series, delivering hardware, software and critical accessories in one bundle with technology solutions across all verticals. For more information, please contact BlueStar at 1-800-354-9776 or visit www.bluestarinc.com.
ATLANTA–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Global Payments Inc. (NYSE: GPN), a leading worldwide provider of payment technology and software solutions, announced today an agreement to acquire SICOM Systems, Inc. from LLR Partners. SICOM provides enterprise, cloud-based software as a service (SaaS) solutions and other technologies to quick service and fast casual restaurants, as well as food service management providers, worldwide.
“The acquisition of SICOM aligns perfectly with our software-driven payments strategy and establishes Global Payments as a leader in one of the largest addressable markets we serve today”
“The acquisition of SICOM aligns perfectly with our software-driven payments strategy and establishes Global Payments as a leader in one of the largest addressable markets we serve today,” said Jeff Sloan, Global Payments’ Chief Executive Officer. “SICOM’s technologies are highly complementary to our existing Xenial solutions, with the combination providing Global Payments’ market-leading technology solutions across the entirety of the restaurant vertical market. The transaction also allows us to expand our owned software solutions into food service management, a large addressable market globally with attractive fundamentals, while further accelerating our business mix toward technology enablement.”
Under the terms of the acquisition agreement, Global Payments will acquire SICOM in a cash transaction valued at approximately $415 million. Global Payments will finance the acquisition with its existing credit facility and cash on hand. The transaction, which is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals, is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2018. Global Payments expects the transaction to have an immaterial impact on 2018 financial results.
About Global Payments
Global Payments Inc. (NYSE: GPN) is a leading worldwide provider of payment technology and software solutions delivering innovative services to our customers globally. Our technologies, services and employee expertise enable us to provide a broad range of solutions that allow our customers to accept all payment types and operate their businesses more efficiently across a variety of distribution channels in many markets around the world.
Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia with approximately 11,000 employees worldwide, Global Payments is a member of the S&P 500 with customers and partners in 31 countries throughout North America, Europe, the Asia-Pacific region and Brazil. For more information about Global Payments, our Service. Driven. Commerce brand and our technologies, please visit www.globalpaymentsinc.com.
About SICOM Systems, Inc.
SICOM Systems, Inc. is a leading best-of-breed provider of end-to-end technologies and services for quick service and fast casual restaurants, as well as food service management companies. The company offers front-of-house, middle-of-house and back-of-house solutions that are helping leading restaurant brands around the globe streamline their operations. Founded in 1987, SICOM is headquartered in Lansdale, Pa. and can be found online at www.SICOM.com.
About LLR Partners
LLR Partners is a lower middle market private equity firm committed to creating long-term value by growing our portfolio companies. LLR invests in select industries, with a focus on technology and services businesses. Founded in 1999 and with more than $3.5 billion raised across five funds, LLR is a flexible provider of capital for growth, recapitalizations and buyouts. For more information about LLR and advice for scaling growth companies, please visit www.llrpartners.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Investors are cautioned that some of the statements we use in this release contain forward-looking statements and are made pursuant to the “safe-harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Statements that are not historical facts, including revenue, earnings estimates and management’s expectations regarding future events and developments, statements about the benefits of the proposed acquisition of SICOM including future financing and operating results, the combined company’s plans, objectives, expectations and intentions and other statements that are not historical facts, are forward-looking statements and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties.
Important factors that may cause actual events or results to differ materially from those anticipated by such forward-looking statements include our ability to safeguard our data; increased competition from larger companies and non-traditional competitors, our ability to update our services in a timely manner; our ability to maintain Visa and MasterCard registration and financial institution sponsorship; our reliance on financial institutions to provide clearing services in connection with our settlement activities; our potential failure to comply with card network requirements; potential systems interruptions or failures; software defects or undetected errors; increased attrition of merchants, referral partners or independent sales organizations; our ability to increase our share of existing markets and expand into new markets; a decline in the use of cards for payment generally; unanticipated increases in chargeback liability; increases in credit card network fees; change in laws, regulations or network rules or interpretations thereof; foreign currency exchange and interest rate risks; political, economic and regulatory changes in the foreign countries in which we operate; future performance, integration and conversion of acquired operations, including without limitation difficulties and delays in integrating or fully realizing cost savings and other benefits of our acquisitions at all or within the expected time period; fully realizing anticipated annual interest expense savings from refinancing our corporate debt facilities; our loss of key personnel and other risk factors presented in Item 1- Risk Factors of our Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017 and any subsequent SEC filings, which we advise you to review.
Additional important factors that could cause actual events or results to differ from those anticipated by our forward-looking statements or historical performance associated with the proposed acquisition of SICOM include the ability to meet closing conditions at all or on the expected terms and schedule, business disruption during the pendency of the acquisition or thereafter making it more difficult to maintain business and operational relationships, including the possibility that our announcement of the acquisition could disrupt SICOM’s relationships with financial institutions, customers, employees or other partners; and difficulties and delays in fully realizing benefits of the acquisition.
Our forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made and should not be relied upon as representing our plans and expectations as of any subsequent date. We undertake no obligation to revise any of these statements to reflect future circumstances or the occurrence of unanticipated events.
Global Payments Inc.
Investor Contact:
Winnie Smith, 770-829-8478
investor.relations@globalpay.com
or
Media Contact:
Kimberly Mann, 770-829-8755
media.relations@globalpay.com
GRAFTON, WI – Recently, Frank Mayer and Associates, Inc. released a promotional video for the company’s self-service kiosk Approach, featuring why the self-order kiosk is a simple solution for businesses seeking additional convenience for customers as well as new revenue opportunities.
With multiple industries embracing the digital experience for their patrons, self-service options are becoming increasingly visible in places like quick service and fast casual restaurants, retail stores, hospitality locations, banks, dispensaries, and more.
Frank Mayer and Associates, Inc. is a leader in the development of in-store merchandising displays, interactive kiosks, and store fixtures for brands and retailers nationwide. The company helps retailers and brands utilize the latest display solutions and technologies to create engaging customer experiences. Visit www.frankmayer.com/approach for more information about Approach.
Contact
Cheryl Lesniak, Integrated Marketing Specialist
cheryl.lesniak@frankmayer.com
(262) 834-1489
FROM
We hear a lot about robots eventually taking over jobs in manufacturing, but automation has already hit the service industry. The cashier who takes your order at McDonald’s could soon be replaced.
DAVID GREENE, HOST:
So there are more than 3 million cashiers in the United States. For many, working a register is a first job; for some, it’s a career. But advancements in technology are replacing cashiers with screens, even in some of the most iconic restaurants. Reporter Ally Schweitzer of WAMU visited one.
ALLY SCHWEITZER, BYLINE: I’m inside a McDonald’s watching sandwiches roll by alluringly on a screen.
CARLOS MATEOS JR.: From here, you have a real simple menu here. And you can see burgers, chicken and fish. Or I could go to my all day breakfast.
SCHWEITZER: Carlos Mateos Jr. owns this McDonald’s in Arlington, Va., and he’s showing me how to place an order with one of the restaurant’s new touchscreen kiosks. Mateos says the technological upgrade is about giving customers what they want.
MATEOS: They wanted conveniences. They wanted different ways of ordering their foods.
SCHWEITZER: McDonald’s says about a third of its locations across the country have already introduced kiosks. By 2020, it plans to have touchscreen ordering in all its U.S. restaurants, catching up to the many big-box retailers, pharmacies and grocery stores that introduced similar technology years ago. But over time, says Molly Kinder, all this automating could have a major impact on jobs. Kinder advises on the future of work at the public policy think tank New America foundation. She says there’s been a lot of talk about how automation could eliminate jobs in sectors like manufacturing and transportation…
MOLLY KINDER: But actually positions like cashiers, retail sales person are at very high risk of automation.
SCHWEITZER: Kinder says it’s not clear how long it could take for those jobs to be outsourced to machines. But she says about a third of all jobs in cities such as Indianapolis, Phoenix and Detroit are vulnerable to technological displacement over time. And those jobs often share certain qualities.
KINDER: The lowest skilled, lowest educated and least-paid jobs tend to be much higher risk than higher skilled and higher paid jobs.
SCHWEITZER: A big driver of the automation craze – Amazon. The online retailer rocked the grocery world when it bought Whole Foods last year. And companies scrambled to show investors that they, too, are going high tech. John Marshall is an economist with United Food and Commercial Workers International, a union that represents grocery store employees.
JOHN MARSHALL: Wall Street analysts are really demanding that companies make these kinds of investments.
SCHWEITZER: And he says, while automation hasn’t led to widespread layoffs at grocery stores, workers’ hours are being cut. He says the more companies spend on technology, the more pressure they face to slash labor costs.
MARSHALL: And ironically, this is having really a negative effect in terms of these companies’ ability to compete with e-commerce retailers like Amazon because the quality of customer service is going to decline as that staffing level is cut.
SCHWEITZER: But back at the McDonald’s in Arlington, Carlos Mateos Jr. says customers seem to have embraced the new touch screens.
MATEOS: There’s people that they come in with their headphones, they don’t want to talk to anybody, they make a beeline right to the kiosk and off they go.
SCHWEITZER: And Mateos says at his restaurant, kiosks haven’t triggered layoffs. He still has human cashiers for those who don’t want to use the touchscreens. And new features like mobile ordering have boosted sales. So he’s had to hire more staff.
MATEOS: And we’ve increased by one to two people and especially two to three people during peaks.
SCHWEITZER: Mateos also needs employees to fill one of the fast food restaurant’s newest jobs – server. When McDonald’s introduced kiosks, it also introduced table service. So while ordering a Big Mac from a machine might be the new thing, you can expect a human to deliver that burger to your table.
For NPR News, I’m Ally Schweitzer in Washington.
Copyright © 2018 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
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QikServe kiosk solution deployed in more than 50 highway and airport restaurants
BETHESDA, MD – Meeting the needs of busy travelers, global restaurateur HMSHost continues to innovate the restaurant industry with expanded service format options, offering self-order kiosks in quick service restaurants it operates in airports and highway travel plazas across North America. This modern ordering and payment amenity is now available across a variety of HMSHost quick service restaurants in over 50 airports and travel plazas and will be deployed in approximately 100 locations by the end of 2019. The innovative kiosk solution utilizes the QikServe self-service platform and is seamlessly integrated with HMSHost’s point-of-sale system.
Kiosk ordering in these restaurants serves travelers using QikServe’s enterprise platform, allowing guests to browse the menu and make selections, order, and pay via an intuitive digital interface. The ordering process also includes a range of cross-selling and up-selling options that offer guests more options to add to their meal. The kiosks have already demonstrated a typical increase in average transaction value of around 20%.
“Since deploying the QikServe kiosk solution, we have seen a significant improvement in overall guest satisfaction,” said James Schmitz, Vice President of Innovation at HMSHost. “We are confident that technology solutions like kiosk ordering are transforming the food industry. By introducing these innovations in travel venues, HMSHost is exposing people from all over the world to the technology-driven future of dining out.”
Self-order kiosks improve the guest experience for travelers by helping combat long lines and providing more flexible levels of interaction when placing an order. Guests have more time to browse the menu with kiosk ordering, often leading to the discovery of new favorites and greater sales. The platform also helps during times of high customer volume, common in travel venues.
“We are thrilled to be working with a world leader like HMSHost to revolutionize the ordering process at its restaurants across North America,” said Daniel Rodgers, Founder & CEO, QikServe. “I am delighted that we are delivering value for HMSHost while also bringing convenience to the traveler experience. This is a fantastic demonstration of how our integrated platform provides the flexibility to deliver a wide range of digital self-service experiences across the hospitality industry.”
Exposure to broad audiences will play a role in revolutionizing the restaurant industry as HMSHost continues to launch innovations like the QikServe-powered kiosks in more of its restaurants. The companies are also working together on self-service solutions beyond kiosks. These technology solutions are impacting the restaurant industry, giving guests convenient options to order exactly what they want and giving restaurants improved satisfaction levels and stronger overall results.
HMSHost Leading the Industry
HMSHost is recognized by the industry as the top provider of travel dining with awards such as 2018 Best Overall Food & Beverage Operator (for the eleventh consecutive year) by Airport Revenue News. USA Today 10Best Readers’ Choice Travel Awards recognized HMSHost’s Summer House Santa Monica at Chicago O’Hare International Airport as Best Airport Bar / Restaurant Atmosphere. HMSHost is a leader in sustainability practices which include plans to eliminate conventional plastic straw use by 2020. The company also creates original award-winning events like Airport Restaurant Month, Channel Your Inner Chef live culinary contest, and the Adrian Awards Gold winning campaigns, #HMSHostLove and Eat Well. Travel Further.
About HMSHost
Global restaurateur HMSHost is a world leader in creating dining for travel venues. HMSHost operates in more than 120 airports around the globe and at more than 100 travel plazas in North America. The company has annual sales of nearly $3.3 billion and employs more than 41,000 associates worldwide. HMSHost is a part of Autogrill Group, the world’s leading provider of food & beverage services for people on the move. With sales of €4.6 billion in 2017, the group operates in 31 countries and employs over 58,000 people. It manages approximately 4,000 stores in about 1,000 locations worldwide.
Visit HMSHost.com for more information and connect with HMSHost on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
QikServe is the enterprise platform for guest self-service in hospitality. Using any channel from kiosks and tablets to web and mobile apps, hospitality operators can provide powerful in-store solutions from ordering to payment, giving guests the convenience to order and pay for their food and drinks whenever and however they want. www.qikserve.com
###
Case study on HMSHost’s kiosk ordering implementation: https://www.qikserve.com/hmshost-case-study
Download photos: https://goo.gl/VtL4Vo
HMSHost Media Contact:
Sean Matthews
(240) 694-4290
QikServe Media Contact:
Danny Sullivan
+44 772 497 4255
McDonald’s is rolling out a new way to order at its restaurants. Kiosks have increased accuracy and efficiency for fast-food chains. But are kiosks better for customers to use?
Source: www.businessinsider.com
The best illustration yet I have seen of the actual menu process and how the choices are added/deducted
McDonald’s and its local franchisees are combining to invest $111 million in physical and technological upgrades at 140 Colorado restaurants this year and next, the company has announced.Click here to edit the content
Source: digital.olivesoftware.com
The work, which ranges from remodeling to complete rebuilds, is part of a $6 billion modernization effort McDonald’s will roll out across the U.S. by the end 2020, according to a news release issued Tuesday.
The work includes:
• Adding self-order kiosks to make ordering and paying easier
• Creation of new counters that allow workers to bring food to customers at the table
• Creation of designated parking spots for mobile order pick-ups
• Expanded McCafé counters and new digital menu boards
• New dining room decorations and updated exteriors
McDonald’s has more than 200 independently owned locations in Colorado, according to the company. State Senate President Kevin Grantham, R-Canon City, called the company “a leader in job creation and economic growth,” in Tuesday’s release.
From Business Insider Aug 3, 2018
Taco Bell is installing kiosks in all of its restaurants.
Hollis Johnson
The #1 QSR mobile kiosk company receives two awards
Dallas, TX – June 13, 2018 – ZIVELO, the leader in interactive self-service kiosk and digital signage solutions in the QSR arena, has been appointed to receive two prestigious awards at the ICX Summit in Dallas on Wednesday, June 13, 2018. The Elevate Awards honor the individuals and organizations that are pacesetters in using technology to elevate customer experience.
ZIVELO will receive Best ICX Deployment: Restaurant and Best ICX Deployment: Financial Services at this year’s ICX Association Elevate Awards for providing nearly 10,000 kiosks to one of the top three QSR’s in North America, and for their groundbreaking virtual banking expert kiosks deployed at a top US-based financial institution.
ZIVELO produces award-winning, self-service kiosk and digital signage solutions for a portfolio of global companies. This includes the top three fast food chains in the nation, as well as top brands across the retail, banking, healthcare, restaurant, and hospitality industries. Their newly launched software product, OakOS, allows ZIVELO’s customers and third-party developers to rapidly build and deploy applications with the only developer kit designed for kiosks. Clients can now develop fully-functional applications within days, by using OakOS’ comprehensive web-based frameworks and SDK. Backed by ZIVELO’s network of support technicians, this comprehensive offering removes previous common barriers in the industry.
ZIVELO’s mission is to revolutionize the way brands use technology to interact with their consumers on-premise and in the physical world. Founded in 2008, ZIVELO has rapidly grown to become the leading self-service technology brand offering a sleek and sophisticated product design, intuitive user experience, and cutting-edge modular hardware solutions. In 2018, ZIVELO acquired Oak Labs, the creators of OakOS – the world’s first operating system for public computing experiences. Through the acquisition, ZIVELO now provides brands with an end-to-end solution for the roll-out of kiosks and digital signage. For more information, please visit http://www.zivelo.com/.
Hello all!
It’s been pretty busy but I wanted to stop for a moment and congratulate the following 5 locations for their implementations of our World’s Fastest Drive Thru™ Solution:
• Bennett Holdings Group – #10199 Johnstown, PA
• Kristen Chandler – #68779 Midland, TX
• Russell Rogers – #50511 Bentonville, AR
• Steve Adams – #59469 Anchorage, AK (FIRST IN ALASKA!!)
• Ricky & Niki Cook – #13878 Walhalla, SC
Beautiful locations for all with many more to come this year! Speed, accuracy, throughput, and so much more have been key factors with these rollouts. If you are in the area for one of the locations, stop by for breakfast, lunch, and dinner to experience it for yourself!
Visit Nextep for your Drive Thru Solutions!
2155 Butterfield Drive, Suite 111
Troy, MI 48084
You can also contact Olea Kiosks info@olea.com or 800-927-8063
EMV deadlines have arrived, but many choose to skip the upgrade. EMV is still split into two big camps. One that is compliant and the other which will be, but not yet. Our prime supporting sponsor for this update is KioWare. Thanks!
By Richard Slawsky contributor
 | Richard Slawsky is an Educator and freelance writer, specializing in the digital signage and kiosk industries.Louisville, Kentucky Area |
Which costs more, complying with new regulations or not complying and hoping for the best?
The question is particularly relevant when it comes to kiosk deployers complying with Europay, Mastercard and Visa (EMV) regulations. Invest in upgrading equipment, or run the risk of being hit with chargebacks and fines in the event of fraud?
Although the lack of clear incentives or financial impacts have prompted some to skip those upgrades, it may be wiser to begin the planning process now. When the inevitable kiosk fraud case makes headlines, it will likely set off a compliance rush that may leave some deployers waiting months or years to get their devices upgraded and certified.
The Wikipedia entry for EMV defines it as “a payment method based upon a technical standard for smart payment cards and for payment terminals and automated teller machines that can accept them.” EMV “smart cards” store their data on integrated circuits in addition to the traditional magnetic stripes.
| The Path to EMV |
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Because the chips are supposedly impossible to clone, smart cards offer vastly improved security compared with magstripe-only cards. But while smart cards include a magstripe along with the integrated circuit for backwards compatibility, the improved security only applies when used with an EMV-compliant card reader.
Although EMV compliance is an ongoing process in the United States, EMV technology has been standard in Europe for years with chip-and-PIN standard and contactless payment cards exploding.
“The card I use for business is probably 60% chip and pin 40% contactless by number of transactions, and I don’t think I’ve ever been asked to confirm a contactless payment by providing my pin,” said Nigel Seed, who runs KioWare Europe now. “A lot of people simply mistrust contactless and refuse to ever use it, in fact some people contact their bank and tell then to send them a replacement card without that facility, but busy metro type professionals typically do use it more than the average.”
To incentivize businesses to upgrade their card readers to EMV-compliant devices, the four major U.S. credit card issuers – Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover – established Oct. 1, 2015 as the deadline when credit card fraud liability will shift to merchants or processors if they do not have an EMV payment system ready.
If fraudulent card use occurs at a merchant that has not upgraded their equipment to EMV technology, the merchant eats the cost of the chargeback along with any fines or fees that may be levied. If that merchant’s processor has not made an EMV-compliant solution to the merchant, or if the card issuer has not issued EMV-compliant cards to its cardholders, the processor or card issuer assumes the liability.
Despite that deadline, though, deployers of self-service devices have been slow to bring those devices into compliance with EMV, in part due to the complexity and cost of upgrading. Making a kiosk or other self-service device EMV-compliant isn’t simply a matter of swapping out a card reader. Along with upgrading the payment terminal and software, other infrastructure involved in the transaction, such as data storage devices, must be upgraded as well.
EMV compliance affects all systems involved in the payment process, not just the payment terminal. Data warehouses are likely the biggest target of all and the eventual destination of data provided at a public terminal. If a retailer takes that highly encrypted data and then stores it as plain text on some in-house data warehouse that thru the vagaries of Microsoft networking is accessible via a simple vendor logging into a portal, they are vulnerable to EMV compliance issues.
In addition to upgrading hardware, compliance also involves the processor and the card issuers certifying that transactions are originating from an EMV-certified device, and that all software and middleware is PCI-DSS complaint as well as being compliant with international operability standards established by EMVCo, the consortium that manages EMV standards. That process could take several months.
| What About A Pin Pad? |
| When do I need a PIN pad? Here are the basics: The United States has historically had two kinds of Cardholder Verification Methods (CVM); PIN for debit transactions and signature for credit transactions at attended terminals. A signature was not valid for unattended scenarios under the logic that a kiosk can’t check an ID or signature. In recent weeks card brands declared Signature to be obsolete and optional in the United States. This really had no impact on unattended as the standard for unattended credit purchases was No CVM. The vast majority of debit cards issued in the US are called “dual application,” meaning they also carry one of the card brand logos and as such can be used on both debit networks (with PIN) and credit networks (optional signature). Think of the phrase ”Visa check card.” The transaction is performed on the credit network, but the money really comes out of your checking account as opposed to a line of credit. Acceptance of PIN debit at a kiosk is optional, although there are cases where acceptance of debit is beneficial, such as bill pay kiosks where transactions could be potentially very large. This would be advantageous to a bill pay kiosk businesses when you consider a debit transaction has a fixed cost, while a credit transaction has a percentage of the sale amount fee. From the perspective of fraud protection it is sort of a non-factor because crooks don’t go around paying their bills with stolen cards. In the case of a kiosk in the mall selling $200 headphones, though, it would be advantageous from a cost of transaction perspective as well as the prevention of card fraud and product loss. Deciding if having a PIN pad on the kiosk is right for you really comes down to a few factors: What is the average sale amount, and considering that amount does the potential savings of the fixed cost of a debit transaction vs the % cost of a credit transactions justify the increased hardware cost of adding a PIN pad for debit acceptance? Essentially, what is the ROI of the PIN pad and ability to accept debit? What is the risk and true cost of loss of product at my kiosk, and does that warrant the cost of a PIN pad? As an example, let’s say a photo kiosk sale amount maxes out at $50, and using an estimated credit transactional cost of 3.5% as a baseline, transactions will cost $1.75 to run as credit. Given debit transactions typically hover around $1.25/$1.50, the outcome of the financial decision tree says maybe the increased solution cost of the kiosk with PIN pad isn’t showing a strong ROI, or at least one that cannot be realized in the short term. Furthermore, the risk and cost of lost product is low, and it will take selling a lot of prints to make up for the cost of the PIN pad. In this example it would make sense to forgo PIN debit acceptance at the kiosk and instead process debit cards over the credit network. |
“Each payment processor generally drives their own certifications, so timing varies pretty dramatically between payment processing certification teams,” said George Hudock, who handles business development with Datacap Systems, a developer of integrated payment systems.
“Most kiosk providers will use a third-party payments solution to avoid the on-going EMV certifications and maintenance, so most are able to avoid the EMV certifications directly,” Hudock said. “However, EMV certifications for unattended devices generally take 3-5 months once queued.”
Although it’s difficult to tell how many non-EMV-compliant kiosks are out in the field, experts say 50-60 percent of point-of-sale terminals aren’t EMV compliant. It’s likely that the percentage of non-EMV-compliant kiosks is similar. Still, experts say it could be several years before the vast majority of self-service devices in the marketplace are brought in line with EMV regulations.
Overall, the EMV migration in the United States is proceeding as well and as speedily as anyone could reasonably expect considering the somewhat tortured circumstances in which it was launched and the technical complexity and costs of its implementation, said Leland Englebardt, Practice Leader, Financial Services at New York-based UpshotAdvisors.
“Remember, it was not long after Dodd-Frank was enacted, which required many significant changes in payment card infrastructure, economics and rules,” Englebardt said.
“We are beginning to see the results in less counterfeit card fraud, which is good for everybody,” he said. “However, the security of EMV is materially enhanced by adding point-to-point tokenization and encryption. As cyber-crime is now the most active and challenging area of payments fraud, it’s possible that in the near future we will see more mandates and/or liability shifts for those technologies.”
EMV confusion still reigns
Part of what seems to be hampering EMV compliance is a lack of clarity on the part of deployers over where kiosks fall under EMV regulations. Is there a difference between attended and unattended devices? What about those that accept or dispense cash?
According to Visa’s Transaction Acceptance Device Guide Version 3.1, the term Unattended Cardholder Activated Terminal (UCAT) refers to an acceptance device managed by a merchant that dispenses goods or services, at which the card and cardholder are present, but the functions and services are provided without the assistance of an attendant to complete the transaction. These devices include cardholder activated fuel pumps, self-service vending units, and self-service payment devices in parking garages or at parking meters.
Devices that support cash dispensing and provide goods and services must comply with the Visa rules and regulations appropriate to the transaction:
• When dispensing cash, the device is considered an ATM and, therefore, must adhere to the Visa rules and regulations for ATMs.
• When dispensing goods or services, the device is considered a UCAT and must adhere to the Visa rules and regulations for unattended purchases.
Although unattended devices (e.g., ATMs, UCATs) may dispense goods and services as well as cash, transactions involving a purchase with cash back are not allowed. In other words, an unattended device may dispense either cash or goods and services in a single transaction but not both. In addition, UCATs that dispense scrip are not addressed because the Visa rules and regulations prohibit Visa card products from being used for scrip transactions. (Scrip is a two-part paper receipt redeemable for goods, services or cash.)
Attended Cardholder Activated Terminals, such as self-checkout terminals in supermarkets, are not considered UCATs and therefore are not required to meet UCAT requirements.
The guide also mentions a third category, “semi-attended,” to describe Semi-Attended Cardholder Activated Terminals in the Europe Region.
| Semi-Attended Tips |
| If you want to benefit from low cost EFT like Verifone VX820 series (<200USD) and you want to install in Semi-Attended environment you should cover unneeded and unwanted functions by a plastic form. Pyramid did it for instance in the McD Europe case. The customer can benefit from the low cost EFT and the “white” form embeds the EFT in an elegant and ergonomic way and in same time it covers the magnetic card function on the side of VX820 which would be not needed and would only make customers unsecure which way to use the device. With our embedded form, that ensures that the customer uses or NFC or Chip Card function.
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“This has resulted in self-service manufacturers creating a third optional semi-attended solution, in conjunction with VISA, for those situations,” said Frieder Hansen, co-CEO of Germany’s Pyramid Computer. “Instead, for example, a plain IPP350 or 820 being used (attended), or for purposes of a UCAT using Ingenico 250 series, the third solution would be using an inspectable key-lockable option with a terminal like a 350.”
There is a perception that kiosks are always considered unattended from an EMV perspective, said Allen Friedman, VP of Payment Solutions at Ingenico Group.
“This is not always true,” Friedman said. “Some self-service implementations in attended environments where employee assistance is available, like at the grocery store, can be considered attended devices. If there is any time period where no assistance is available, then it is considered an unattended solution.”
There is also a card brand requirement for unattended devices to make a printed receipt available to cardholders for transactions above $15, Friedman said.
“Designs for kiosks intended to provide merchandise or services above that amount should include a receipt printer with their models to insure compliance,” he said.
Taking the risk
Although kiosk deployers are still asking for non-EMV compliant solutions, kiosk manufacturers seem to be coming down firm on needing EMV-compliant payment solutions for any custom deployment. New projects are likely to take EMV into account throughout the process.
On the other hand, some deployers are likely to stick with non-EMV compliant kiosks to the end of their lifespan.
“Deployers aren’t as educated on this as they need to be,” Laura Miller with KioWare said. “They think it doesn’t apply to them, aren’t aware of the risk or think that the risk isn’t high enough to warrant the additional cost.”
EMV-certified options are also still relatively limited, so kiosk providers’ preferred payments providers may not yet have an EMV-certified option for unattended applications.
“Kiosks are also expensive to upgrade to EMV due to a required change in casework to accommodate the updated EMV device,” Hudock said.
| EMV & Cloud Services |
| EMV credit transactions thru the cloud makes things easier. Keyboard wedge changed to HID changed to USB and now changes to Ethernet. A hospital environment with a copay for example in old days would require direct integration between the check-in device and the credit terminal. Which payment processor becomes an issue along with who writes the code.Nowadays you can offload the credit portion via cloud services and all that is required on the check-in or check-out terminal is simple HTTP and JSON call for authorization. The credit device takes over, conducts the transaction (thru preferred provider) via EMV certified kernel and then notifies the check-in/check-out that the transaction is complete. You eliminate the development cost, and the credit devices can be leased monthly to reduce the upfront cost of going EMV. You do need an ethernet connection though. |
“The kiosk industry is more fragmented than retail/restaurant,” Hudock said. “This means that there are often multiple constituents involved in delivering the kiosk that need to be involved in the upgrade process, including hardware OEMs, software developers, payments middleware providers, payment processors and installers. Kiosk upgrades tend to take a little more time and planning than retail/restaurant due to the number of involved parties.”
Some of the reluctance for kiosk deployers to adopt EMV is understandable. If the kiosk is near the end of its life cycle, a deployer may choose to ride it out until it’s time to replace the entire device. In addition, the relatively low transaction averaged for many kiosks translates to less overall chargeback risk, which in turn means less incentive to upgrade.
Should a deployer choose to skip making their units EMV compliant, though, at the very least they should place additional attention on security to minimize the possibility of fraud. Those steps could include data clearing technology and secure browsers, end session on a particular page, session timeouts and so forth. In addition, point-to-point encryption and tokens are valuable security measures. P2PE ensures that card data is encrypted at the time of card insertion and maintains that encryption until it’s routed offsite. Tokens ensure that card data is not stored locally for voids or recurring transactions.
“There is less risk of internal compromise of data for a kiosk due to the hardened nature of the casework, but the largest card data security problem facing kiosks is likely card skimmers,” Hudock said. “Because these are generally placed on top of an existing reader, the card is skimmed before security measures like encryption or EMV would have any impact. Merchants need to periodically check their kiosks to confirm that they haven’t been tampered with.”
And as EMV cards and terminals become ubiquitous, banks’ authorization parameters may evolve to limit fallback approvals.
“A kiosk operator who doesn’t upgrade to EMV may find it harder and harder to get a positive mag stripe authorization,” Englebardt said.
“Notwithstanding the liability shift, banks seek to avoid the risk of counterfeit card chargebacks that trigger replacement/reissuance costs and cardholder attrition,” he said. “So revenue erosion is an additional long term business risk for kiosk operators not adopting EMV.”
| Other Problems with EMV |
| So you reside in U.S. and all your cards (for the last year) are the sturdier Chip cards right? And no problems since right?Well, not exactly. The process of manufacture still has kinks. Personally two of my cards have failed just due to electronic failure (both of them from Chase). So malfunctioning cards are a problem. My Chip cards have needed to be replaced due to fraud instances twice (rarely did before). I am a low volume very restricted credit card user (except for online accounts). Why the increase of breaches? |
At the end of the day, though, what’s likely to motivate deployers to upgrade their devices will be the news of a major chargeback and fine associated with a device that wasn’t EMV-compliant.
“There are beginning to be some fines but not publicized and none that would be considered punitive by any measure,” said Geoff Leopold, division manager with Heartland Payment Systems. Still, it’s likely just a matter of time before a major incident occurs.
In addition, some payment processors have begun charging their customers EMV non-compliance fees. Those fees can vary, coming as a flat monthly or annual charge or a percentage of the deployer’s processing volume.
“The bottom line is that processors and banks want you to move to EMV equipment because it’s more secure for everyone,” write Ellen Cunningham in an article on the website CardFellow.com. “If you’ve been holding off on EMV-capable equipment you may want to think about upgrading before more processors begin imposing expensive fees.”
How EMV works.
EMVCo manages EMV specifications and related testing processes. This includes, but is not limited to, card and terminal evaluation, security evaluation, and management of interoperability issues. EMVCo is a consortium with control split equally among Visa, MasterCard, JCB, American Express, China UnionPay, and Discover.
US Payments Forum — The U.S. Payments Forum (the “Forum”) is a cross-industry body focused on addressing issues that require broad cooperation and coordination across many constituents in the payments industry. Part of Secure Technology Alliance (see below).
The EMV Connection website provides up-to-date EMV migration information and educational resources. One of those is Chip Cards Facts-at-a-Glance. It is now US Payments Forum.
EMV Resources page of the Card Acquiring Service (CAS). Offers information and links to helpful EMV information, including the federal government’s move to EMV chip and PIN-enabled card acceptance.
Secure Technology Alliance — The Alliance brings together leading providers and adopters of end-to-end security solutions designed to protect privacy and digital assets in a variety of vertical markets.
Thanks to all from us!
TheStreet talks exclusively with Wendy’s CEO Todd Penegor about how he is trying to reinvent the food ordering process. Click here for full interview. Below are some of the points covered.
Some points covered and made by Penegor:
Kiosks are quickly becoming an integral part of the QSR and fast-casual space. Here are some factors to consider when planning for a self-order solution by Olea Kiosks, Inc.
| Craig is longtime writer of technical stories and documentation for many companies. He has 25 years of experience in the industry |
Mobile order and pay garnered quite a bit of attention, as did product vending solutions. One of the real stars of the show, however, was self-order kiosk technology thanks to their demonstrated ability to increase customer throughput and increase sales by automating suggestive selling.
Still, it’s not enough for a restaurant operator to just install a kiosk near the counter and wait for the orders to roll in. The design of the kiosk itself goes a long way toward encouraging customers to use the devices. In conjunction though the restaurant needs to ensure kitchen output matches up with kitchen input. Bakery café chain Panera Bread updated their kitchens first and then added kiosks and multi-channel ordering. The objective is more orders taken and fulfilled, faster.
There’s little doubt that self-order kiosks will be an central component of the QSR and fast-casual restaurant landscape going forward. McDonald’s expects to have self-order kiosks in most of its 14,000 restaurants by 2020, while Wendy’s currently has them in many of its 6,500-plus locations. Other fast-food operations are following suit, creating their own variations best-suited for their restaurant environments. More compact and less costly designs that are cost-effective to deploy are starting to become commonplace.
On the fast-casual side, Panera made self-order kiosks an integral part of its “Panera 2.0” effort, which it began rolling out in 2014. Before the company was taken private last year, officials indicated that sales increases at restaurants outfitted with the initiative were outpacing sales at those without the technology.
It’s evident that these companies and others wouldn’t be investing millions of dollars in self-order technology unless it had been proven to offer tangible benefits. To maximize those benefits, though, deployers should take a few critical factors into consideration when planning to incorporate self-order kiosks into their operations.
The user interface
Key to encouraging customers to use self-order kiosks on a regular basis is a clean, simple user interface. The order flow must be intuitive and easy to navigate. Choices should be presented logically, with similar items on the same page and accompanied by professionally shot images. Add-ons should be suggested where appropriate. Also, it should be easy for the customer to go back and make changes if they decide on a different selection.
Enclosure & mounting
It’s likely that some customers will need some degree of education to encourage them to use a self-order kiosk. For freestanding kiosks, the enclosure and attractor screen should include messaging that illustrates the kiosk’s purpose. Tablet-based kiosks should consist of nearby signage along with the attractor screen inviting users to bypass the line.
More importantly, self-order kiosks need to be compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Are the devices usable by someone in a wheelchair? What about a blind or visually impaired customer? Accessible by all should be ensured.
The last thing a restaurant deploying self-order kiosks wants is to be branded with the reputation that they don’t care about the disabled. On the flip side, the disabled will likely be a growing customer base if you support ADA. When it comes to self-order kiosks, ADA compliance is a minefield best navigated with the assistance of an experienced kiosk vendor, and possibly your legal department.
A kiosk is a collection of electronic components and as with any such device it will eventually need service, whether that be a simple cleaning or the replacement of a part. Can the unit be serviced easily and with a minimum of effort? Can parts be swapped out quickly, keeping downtime to a minimum?
Just as important, does the kiosk vendor offer phone support to assist deployers with service issues by phone, and service programs designed to resolve problems quickly when a site visit is required
The rest of the operation
One of the main reasons a restaurant operator will consider deploying a self-order kiosk is to alleviate congestion at the counter and increase order throughput. The misconception that self-order kiosks will help cut labor is just that: a misconception. Many restaurants that have deployed self-order kiosks reported an increase in sales, requiring more, not fewer employees to accommodate this influx.
However, increasing the rate at which orders arrive at the kitchen creates another problem. If the kitchen can’t keep up, the result will be long ticket times, crowding by the food pickup area, and ultimately, dissatisfied customers. People tend to order more when they order from the computer as well (25% more).
Consider, for example, the experience encountered by Starbucks when it released a mobile ordering app in 2015. The app led to a flood of orders, which in turn led to congestion at the drink hand-off area. Furthermore, many customers came in, saw the long lines, and naturally turned around and left.
To solve the issue, Starbuck’s added employees and implemented new systems that enabled stores to handle the additional orders. When Chipotle Mexican Grill restaurants faced similar problems, they began implementing a second make line devoted solely to digital orders.
How restaurants handle orders coming in via self-order kiosks will likely be determined by customer flow and the design of the store itself. This could translate to different kiosk form factors being needed.
Much like anything else, a best practice is to train employees on how to utilize the kiosks. This is made much easier by deploying a kiosk that utilizes the same components used in the restaurants already. Still, training is important.
Think of it this way: If a restaurant installed a new point-of-sale system, they would train each employee on how to use it. Kiosks are no different. Employees should know how to direct traffic to the kiosks during rush hour properly, and how to service the units in a timely manner.
If employees recognize kiosks as a tool for them to use, rather than their competition, it is likely the devices will produce a much faster return on investment. Employees will be more willing to push customers to the kiosks, generating more usage and increasing average ticket size.
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At the end of the day the best way to provide a self-order solution that improves the guest experience, simplifies the restaurant operation, and increases sales is to work with a kiosk vendor who is experienced in the deployment of self-order kiosks and has a track record of success. Olea Kiosks stands ready to help.
The Austin Kiosk from Olea Kiosks, for example, is a versatile solution available in multiple form factors so deployers can choose the one that best suits their needs. The kiosk is available in countertop, wall mount, and freestanding versions – all utilizing the exact same components to ensure that customers are always greeted with the same technology.
The Austin uses familiar POS components such as Elo Touch Solutions, Epson and STAR Micronics-brand printers, and industry-favorite Ingenico and Verifone EMV payment terminals.
For more information call 800.927.8063 or send an email to info@olea.com
In a wide-ranging interview, Steve Easterbrook, McDonald’s CEO talks about the company’s new headquarters, adapting new technology, including new ways to order food, adding an international menu, and why tariffs are unlikely to impact the company’s bottom..
McDonald’s CEO: We are evolving the business in a meaningful way from CNBC.
Customers often buy more when ordering on a screen than when standing in front a worker at the counter because they tend to linger longer, the company found.
“What we are finding is when people dwell more, they tend to select more,” McDonald’s CEO Steve Easterbrook told CNBC Monday. “So there is a little bit of an average check boost that comes with it.”
McDonald’s will add kiosks to 1,000 stores every quarter — roughly 10 stores per day — over the next two years, Easterbrook told the network. And the U.S. is late to the game: Kiosks are already fully installed at stores in English-speaking markets such as the United Kingdom and Canada. France was the first country to introduce the self-serve machines.
But it’s possible McDonald’s will run into consumer resistance. A poll conducted by MSN found that 78% of customers are less likely to go into a restaurant that has a self-service kiosk. Even if it has the kiosks, most McDonald’s restaurants still lets customers order at the counter.
CEO Easterbrook and other representatives of McDonald’s say kiosks aren’t a substitute for human workers, but rather a new way to bring the benefits of technology to the fast-food industry.
Easterbrook hopes to have self-serve kiosks in all U.S. locations by 2020.
The kiosk in your hand will work, too: The ability to order from your own smartphone will come to more stores, CNBC reported. Delivery options are under consideration as well.
| Craig is a longtime writer of technical stories and documentation for many companies. He has 25 years of experience in the industry |
| Craig is a longtime writer of technical stories and documentation for many companies. He has 25 years of experience in the industry |
May 2018 | www.frankmayer.com
The following is excerpt from the latest whitepaper by Frank Mayer and Associates, Inc. covering Self-Service Kiosks in Quick Service and Fast Casual. See the complete whitepaper on the Frank Mayer website.
Contents
Recent industry news pertaining to quick service restaurants (QSRs) and fast casual establishments has shined a spotlight on a growing trend in both sectors – the desire to enhance the customer experience through digital measures.
Included among the numerous digital options has been the growth of self-service kiosks where customers independently order food and pay using a touchscreen versus placing an order to a cashier behind a register.
In the April 2018 Restaurant Readiness IndexTM by PYMNTS.com in collaboration with Bypass and Bank of America Merchant Services, 41 percent of restaurant participants surveyed regarding 2017 Q4 data indicated they had implemented in-store kiosks, a four percent increase over the previous quarter. Kiosks were also the in-store feature that represented the greatest improvement since the previous study, showcasing the steady momentum behind restaurants incorporating self-order kiosk programs into their growth plans.
There are many advantages to QSRs and fast casuals adopting self-order strategies, but three well-documented beneits include enhanced customer service, improved productivity and increased profits. The solid growth and attractive benefits of self-service kiosks means we’ll continue to see our favorite QSRs and fast casual restaurants set themselves apart from the competition.
See the complete whitepaper on the Frank Mayer website.
| Craig is a longtime writer of technical stories and documentation for many companies. He has 25 years of experience in the industry |
| Craig is a longtime writer of technical stories and documentation for many companies. He has 25 years of experience in the industry |
The number of self-order kiosks on display at the National Restaurant Show nearly tripled over last year’s exhibits. Below is video of Pyramid Computer booth. Visit their YouTube channel for more!
Good review of self-order kiosks at NRA 2018. Elliott presents photo gallery of 35 different booths at the recent National Restaurant Show.
See the gallery article: KioskMarketplace and Elliott Maras
There were some notable not presents such as Acrelec and RedyRef.
Given the recent spate of RFPs related to fast casual it is not surprising to see big turnout though at this show. Still, the media always gets ahead of itself trying to announce “what’s coming” is the same as “what is” and it rarely is.
The Ziosk iteration went from concept to installment over many years and it is a relatively mature product now entering its replacement cycle. Lifecycle coming into play for the units.
Still, it has been several years of “they are coming” and last time I checked at Wendy’s there is nothing, or any of the other fast casuals here in the area and we are looking at a fairly “hot” market here in Denver.
Companies are certainly exploring the idea. Which format or form factor they eventually settle on is still to be determined.
Excerpt:
What a difference a year makes! Last year’s National Restaurant Show featured 12 self-serve kiosks. This year, the number on display at Chicago’s McCormick Place nearly tripled as kiosk manufacturers scrambled to meet the restaurant industry’s demand to improve customer service with new technology.
As McDonald’s continues its nationwide rollout of self-order kiosks, thousands of QSRs and fast casual restaurants don’t want to get left behind and are shopping the market.
Click here for more: KioskMarketplace Gallery
From Pymnts.com article
As a college student in the 1970s, Murray Lappe heard that his fellow students wanted to promote their organizations through a new medium. During a retreat, the students thought of having a traditional bulletin board, but Lappe had an alternate take: Why not digitize the concept?
“We kicked the idea around, and it got some interest,” Lappe told kioskindustry.org. “After the session, the Dean suggested I apply for a grant to see if we could make it happen.”
With just $2,500 in seed money for the project, Lappe went to work on an interface and an algorithm to power what would arguably become one of the first self-service kiosks. The device would come to have a plasma touchscreen, which was important since many people didn’t know how to use a computer at the time.
“I wanted to make it as simple as possible for people who had never used a computer before,” Lappe added. “I didn’t want it to look or feel like a computer.”
The kiosk, which was dubbed the PLATO Hotline, appeared in the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign’s student center only a few weeks before Lappe graduated. And it was a resounding success.
Kiosk Meets Retail
A few years after the introduction of Lappe’s kiosk, the Florsheim Shoe Company decided to bring self-service kiosks into its retail stores. Through the kiosks, customers could also view different styles on a video screen, while the machine would literally talk to customers and sell them on the features of different shoes.
Read the full story at Pymnts.com article
Self-service kiosks at McDonalds restaurants are part of a national trend toward automation at stores and restaurants driven by tech-savvy consumers and the ri…
Source: buffalonews.com
Nice article. The rise of the machine: Stores and restaurants turn to self-service kiosks
Excerpt:
“Increasing the minimum wage decreases significantly the share of automatable employment held by low-skilled workers and increases the likelihood that low-skilled workers in automatable jobs become unemployed,” the study found.
But McDonalds said the move has nothing to do with cutting labor costs. In fact, the company expects to add employees, banking on a sales boost from the added efficiency and diverting front-end cashier work to other customer-facing positions in the dining room such as assisting with kiosk orders and bringing food to tables.
“It’s all about taking care of the customer and creating a better customer-service experience,” said Sandy Haefner, who started as a McDonald’s employee in 1974, became a franchisee in 1989 and now owns five McDonald’s locations in West Seneca, Lackawanna, Depew, Cheektowaga and Lancaster. “We’re adding that human touch.”
Self-serve kiosks are making their debut in the fast food industry! The recently renovated 10th Ave. McDonald’s here in Great Falls has just added self-serving kiosks to their menu. Instead of 3 places to order, there are now 8 in the newly designed restaurant.
In an effort to offer a better guest experience, McDonald’s is allowing their customers to have the opportunity of ordering everything themselves.
The staff that was once stuck behind the counter, are now making the experience more personable by helping out on the floor.
For many, the new service is great!
The good news is that these self-serving kiosks won’t be taking jobs away from the fast food industry any time soon. In fact, they’ve created some!
The new kiosks have allowed the opportunity for labor to be directed elsewhere, such as in the kitchen or helping customers on the floor.
One of these new positions is known as GEL, or Guest Experience Lead. This position is designed to help customers understand the new kiosk and order process.
It’s also important to note the new self-serving kiosks are just an option You can still order your meal the traditional way or through the drive-thru.
Overall these kiosks have drastically helped with efficiency and customer interaction.
COMMENTS
Craig Keefner That may be McDonald specific. Paneras process was to first upgrade the kitchens to ensure the higher order level would be met. I haven’t seen anything from McDonalds on expanded kitchen throughput. The kiosks though are desired particularly at the “burst” point so that when the counters are busy, you can still order quickly. Obviously they have some work to do but they may see it as a good problem. Thanks Eunice!
News followup from Pymnts.com
What The $1B Kiosk Industry Can Do For Hotels And Restaurants
Kiosks aren’t just for selling tickets or providing customers with another way to order a meal. They can personalize the guest experience too.
“Our take on it is that we’re all different,” Bite CPO Steven Truong has said. “Our recognition and learning algorithm allows us to give each guest a different experience — and cater to their personal needs.”
Bite is far from alone in its quest to capitalize on the demand for kiosks. Overall, the kiosk market is booming and is projected to reach $1 billion by 2021.
And, between 2013 and 2016, the size of the U.S. interactive kiosk industry market grew at an average of 10.36 percent from $533.37 million to $716.97 million, according to the PYMNTS Kiosk & Retail Report. Here are five segments for the kiosk market — and how they help businesses function more efficiently.
— Food self-service kiosks made up 16 percent of the percentage participation in relation to the total market. For instance, McDonald’s is on its way to making “wait time zero” a reality, with kiosks playing a big role. Early statistics have shown a 20 percent higher average ticket being placed at the self-service kiosk versus the counter. And Panera made news when it decided to start using touchscreen order kiosks to solve crippling bottlenecks in its stores. The bakery chain is rolling out the technology along with simplified kitchen displays. Subway, too, is hoping that new technology, including touchscreen kiosks, can save it from a three-year sales slump before it has to close more stores.
For Dudley Dickerson, the mobile-app orders were the last straw.
McDonald’s has been updating with new technology, delivery, a revamped menu and curbside pickup. But the “Experience of the Future” has employees handling more tasks — in many cases, they say, without pay raises or adequate staffing. So Dickerson, 23, handed over his spatula for the last time.
“They added a lot of complicated things,” Dickerson said in an interview. “It makes it harder for the workers.”
Many fast-food employees hop from job to job. But with unemployment so low, turnover is becoming a problem. Workers are walking rather than dealing with new technologies and menu options. The result: Customers will wait longer.
Source: www.sfgate.com
“Quick-service restaurants are having a little more trouble with job openings and finding workers,” said Michael Harms, executive director of operations at People Report. “It’s the pace of work, the pace of technology and the lower wage rate.”
Eunice Coughlin Just wanted to share our recent experience with kiosks in McDonald’s. We were at a McDonald’s in Waco, TX on Easter weekend (Sunday) and people were using the kiosks. The problem was that there were not enough kitchen staff to fulfill the orders that were coming in from the kiosks and the regular order takers. People were waiting a good 10-15 minutes for their food. Hopefully, these kinks will be worked out soon. Maybe a solution: disable the kiosks when there’s not enough kitchen staff?