New Technologies

New technologies put the responsibility of order accuracy on your customers, freeing your crew to run a profitable store. By Marilyn Odesser-Torpey

Waiting to order at a quick-service restaurant ranked among consumers’ top five “waits we hate most” in a 2007 survey by global technology provider NCR Corp. According to the company’s Service Consumer Survey, 97 percent of Americans are ready to turn to self-service technology—in the form of text messaging, the Internet, and kiosks—to speed up their transactions.

Speed was the No. 1 reason consumers preferred self-serve, garnering 68 percent of the votes. Convenience came in a close second (64 percent), and making transactions easier (52 percent) followed.