• by Teresa Buyikian , March 15, 2024

Expect to see many more self-serve kiosks at your favorite fast-food restaurants, at least according to a recent study by POS provider Qu, which rated kiosks as the number one priority for both QSRs and fast-casual restaurants for 2024. Forty-four percent of brands surveyed are planning to implement or expand kiosks in 2024.

The recently released 5th Annual State of Digital Report digs into 179 different restaurant brands and 62,000 locations for following year predictions such as challenges, investment priorities, innovations and sales trends, among others.

Following up kiosks in priority at 25% is increased focus on mobile apps, with the same number (25%) also concerned with expanded delivery platforms. Last on the cited priority list was phone-enabled AI ordering (20%) and voice ordering through drive-thru (16%).

Seventy-seven percent reported that digital sales grew in 2023, with 87% expecting to see further digital growth in 2024. Restaurants reported that digital sales make up 26%-50%of overall sales  -- which where they are expected to remain for the next few years, per the report.

“Brands have found the sweet spot mix of digital and in-person ordering after a roller coaster few years of getting their online house in order,” said Qu CEO Amir Hudda in a release. “Guests are more comfortable ordering on screens and from their mobile devices. Combine that with a tight labor market and we’re seeing a shift to self-serve ordering even in the store.”

Loyalty programs, unsurprisingly, also took a prominent role in the study, with nearly 80% saying loyalty is not working for their brand and with plans to improve in 2024. The report “predicts a new data-centric loyalty framework will emerge with guest experience at the core.”

Additionally 65% of respondents said they plan to focus on transitioning (if they have not already) to a cloud-based, API-forward unified ordering and commerce platform. Forty-nine percent will emphasize AI-driven analytics, with 46% specifically focused on AI-driven voice analytics. 

“Brands have learned what is working for guests and are investing in modernizing and elevating the guest experience,” added Hudda in the release. “As the economy and market settle into predictability we’ll start to see more innovation and a focus on technology for guest acquisition, loyalty, and ordering advancements.”