Thursday, September 18, 2014

The Ziosk: A flop or the future of restaurants?

I discovered this new technology over the summer during my internship. The Ziosk is essentially a tablet that is at one's table at a restaurant. This tablet allows customers to order drinks, appetizers, meals, play games, and pay one's bill. The Ziosk has already been tested in several large and mid sized restaurant chains such as Chili's, Olive Garden, and Abuelo's Mexican restaurants. In a recent update, Darden, the owner of Olive Garden, said that the tablets have increased add-on sales, table turns, tip size and resulted in a 60 percent pay-at-the-table rate, all of which has generated additional revenue. Basically, these tablets have the potential to not only pay for themselves, but generate additional revenue for the restaurants that use them. Several mid sized chains have already entered into partnerships with Ziosk and Austen Mulinder, the CEO of Ziosk, expects his company to have grown six fold by the end of the year. 

Topics for Discussion:
- Do you think Ziosk is the future of restaurants? Or will Ziosk end up fizzling out?
- How could Ziosk permanently change the dining industry?
- As a customer, how would you feel about using a tablet at your table for ordering, paying the bill, and playing games? 


Also, here is a link to the Ziosk website for those interested in learning more: http://www.ziosk.com/

24 comments:

  1. I am not sure about the immediate future of the Ziosk, but I do believe at some point in time it will gain popularity. One thing that this reminds me of is self-checkout service at the grocery store. Initially people chose to avoid this self-service. But as people became comfortable with this service, more and more were installed into grocery stores and less workers were hired.

    People are not completely comfortable with these self-paying services. As more restaurants integrate these systems, the general public will assimilate to this service. Many restaurants are already taking advantage of the benefits technology possesses. Ziosk has potential work in restaurants. This may be a popular service for the newer generation. Ziosk could change the dining industry in fast food service and lower-tier restaurants. But there should still be an option to communicate with a server. There is still a large portion of the public that enjoys face to face service because of its advantages. Servers can give descriptions about the food, give recommendations and make accommodations for certain allergies. We are in an era where a balance between technology and interpersonal interactions must exist.

    Lastly, I don't enjoy the idea of using a tablet for gaming while I am out to eat. We are losing touch with human interaction, but Ziosk does offer an efficient way to order and pay. In conclusion, I believe that Ziosk will make huge strides in the food industry in the next 10 years.

    Here is a quick blog article from WSJ

    http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2014/08/11/mobile-payments-firms-order-up-new-strategy-restaurants-2/?KEYWORDS=ziosk

    ReplyDelete
  2. Like TJ, I believe that the Ziosk will become popular at some point in time. When and for how long? It is hard to tell. Nonetheless, the idea of the Ziosk actually reminds me of the McDonalds in Madrid. Instead of tablets at each table, they were set up as multiple screens within the restaurant that anyone could go up to in order to place an order rather than wait in line for a cashier. I noticed that these screens were more popular with the younger Spanish crowd. This may be because of the technological appeal it has and the efficiency it provides to those in our generation who are often considered “impatient.” However, I did notice that most of the people in my study abroad program did not use the screens that much. Similar to the older Spanish crowd, I think a lack of familiarity, human interaction and confidence in the screens were the primary factors in its nonuse. Once people become more familiar with using Ziosks, I believe they will become a trend.

    The Ziosk could permanently change the dining industry is many ways. First, it could reduce the need of multiple waiters and waitresses. In eliminating waiters/ waitresses, the likelihood of communication problems should also decline because people will be able to send their specific orders directly to those preparing their food without a waiter messing up their order through a misunderstanding. Waiters and waitresses will only be hired to deliver orders, not to take them. As a result, Ziosks could change the dining industry by making it more efficient. More people may choose to dine out if they know that they will be served faster.

    As a customer, I do not think I would like the idea of a Ziosk. I believe a lot of the appeal of dining out is human interaction, whether it is the people I go with or the waiters/ waitresses taking my order. I think playing games on a Ziosk also takes that away.

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