Jack in the Box & Del Taco moving to 100% kiosks

[ClownLoach]

What a surprise. All the cashiers replaced with kiosks. I'm sure this kiosk vendor is going to be doing a lot of business this year.

Interestingly aside from shared technology initiatives, Jack and Del remain completely separate and my understanding is they will stay that way. No plans to merge the two headquarters.

https://www.qubeyond.com/jack-in-the-bo ... bkV74pel-w

[storewanderer]

What a surprise. All the cashiers replaced with kiosks. I'm sure this kiosk vendor is going to be doing a lot of business this year.

Interestingly aside from shared technology initiatives, Jack and Del remain completely separate and my understanding is they will stay that way. No plans to merge the two headquarters.

https://www.qubeyond.com/jack-in-the-bo ... bkV74pel-w

I wonder how long this will take. It appears they have to sell the franchisees on this idea. Sure they can mandate the kiosks but that is yet another cost... Jack in the Box has been on standardized POS for many years, required by franchisees to use a specific POS. Del Taco has had a mix of systems but mostly Aloha.

Jack in the Box tried kiosks in the mid 00's which worked fine with their current POS system (which is the same system Taco Bell uses and has kiosks running on). Wendys has kiosks and uses the same POS that Del Taco mostly uses. So they don't need a new system to do kiosks... I think they'd be better off coming up with a low cost/quick install kiosk implementation vs. this thing of trying to get franchisees to buy all new POS systems and kiosks.

[Super S]

What a surprise. All the cashiers replaced with kiosks. I'm sure this kiosk vendor is going to be doing a lot of business this year.

Interestingly aside from shared technology initiatives, Jack and Del remain completely separate and my understanding is they will stay that way. No plans to merge the two headquarters.

https://www.qubeyond.com/jack-in-the-bo ... bkV74pel-w

I wonder how long this will take. It appears they have to sell the franchisees on this idea. Sure they can mandate the kiosks but that is yet another cost... Jack in the Box has been on standardized POS for many years, required by franchisees to use a specific POS. Del Taco has had a mix of systems but mostly Aloha.

Jack in the Box tried kiosks in the mid 00's which worked fine with their current POS system (which is the same system Taco Bell uses and has kiosks running on). Wendys has kiosks and uses the same POS that Del Taco mostly uses. So they don't need a new system to do kiosks... I think they'd be better off coming up with a low cost/quick install kiosk implementation vs. this thing of trying to get franchisees to buy all new POS systems and kiosks.

Yet another reason for me to continue avoiding this chain. With pricing on many items now more than they are really worth, inconsistent operators that completely disregard posted hours, and some locations still keeping dining rooms closed with only the drive-thru open, they need to take the time to make sure their core business is operating normally first. This is going to alienate more people....

[ClownLoach]

What a surprise. All the cashiers replaced with kiosks. I'm sure this kiosk vendor is going to be doing a lot of business this year.

Interestingly aside from shared technology initiatives, Jack and Del remain completely separate and my understanding is they will stay that way. No plans to merge the two headquarters.

https://www.qubeyond.com/jack-in-the-bo ... bkV74pel-w

I wonder how long this will take. It appears they have to sell the franchisees on this idea. Sure they can mandate the kiosks but that is yet another cost... Jack in the Box has been on standardized POS for many years, required by franchisees to use a specific POS. Del Taco has had a mix of systems but mostly Aloha.

Jack in the Box tried kiosks in the mid 00's which worked fine with their current POS system (which is the same system Taco Bell uses and has kiosks running on). Wendys has kiosks and uses the same POS that Del Taco mostly uses. So they don't need a new system to do kiosks... I think they'd be better off coming up with a low cost/quick install kiosk implementation vs. this thing of trying to get franchisees to buy all new POS systems and kiosks.

Yet another reason for me to continue avoiding this chain. With pricing on many items now more than they are really worth, inconsistent operators that completely disregard posted hours, and some locations still keeping dining rooms closed with only the drive-thru open, they need to take the time to make sure their core business is operating normally first. This is going to alienate more people....

Jack in the Box has always been inconsistent. Del Taco for the most part has been a better operation, and I'm glad that Jack has kept their hands off as they should be trying to learn from Del. Although they were already transitioning to a model that was intended to be a simplified menu with fancier items before being acquired so Jack is blamed for all the changes now. I only know of one "bad" Del Taco and the issue is the manager who needs to be fired and I have already reported them twice (for literally getting into arguments in the kitchen with restaurant open and customers present). But I can't name a "good" Jack in the Box anywhere.

[storewanderer]

I wonder how long this will take. It appears they have to sell the franchisees on this idea. Sure they can mandate the kiosks but that is yet another cost... Jack in the Box has been on standardized POS for many years, required by franchisees to use a specific POS. Del Taco has had a mix of systems but mostly Aloha.

Jack in the Box tried kiosks in the mid 00's which worked fine with their current POS system (which is the same system Taco Bell uses and has kiosks running on). Wendys has kiosks and uses the same POS that Del Taco mostly uses. So they don't need a new system to do kiosks... I think they'd be better off coming up with a low cost/quick install kiosk implementation vs. this thing of trying to get franchisees to buy all new POS systems and kiosks.

Yet another reason for me to continue avoiding this chain. With pricing on many items now more than they are really worth, inconsistent operators that completely disregard posted hours, and some locations still keeping dining rooms closed with only the drive-thru open, they need to take the time to make sure their core business is operating normally first. This is going to alienate more people....

Jack in the Box has always been inconsistent. Del Taco for the most part has been a better operation, and I'm glad that Jack has kept their hands off as they should be trying to learn from Del. Although they were already transitioning to a model that was intended to be a simplified menu with fancier items before being acquired so Jack is blamed for all the changes now. I only know of one "bad" Del Taco and the issue is the manager who needs to be fired and I have already reported them twice (for literally getting into arguments in the kitchen with restaurant open and customers present). But I can't name a "good" Jack in the Box anywhere.

Couple of good Jack in the Box units in Reno: Apple Steet. And McCarran/Smithridge.

Some okay units and some bad units elsewhere in town.

All same franchisee.

They just did price hikes. 2 tacos on menu board now 1.69. Still .99 in app.

[Alpha8472]

Jack In The Box had kiosks in their San Francisco Bay Area stores up until around 2016 or so. Customers hated them. Nobody used them. They didn't take cash, and it was complicated to order. Most of the time it was so frustrating that you would just order the bare minimum and pay.

Ordering with a cashier lets the cashier recommend other menu items that you might like as well. People ordered less food using the kiosk. So you may save on labor, but your food sales will be down.

Then customers will complain that they ordered the wrong thing on the kiosk and the restaurant will have to remake the food. What a waste.

Restaurant chains have a very wide range of kiosks. Some of them are absolutely awful to use such as those at McDonald's. Others are decent, but still completely time-consuming. Most most do not take cash.

The Jack In the Box restaurants in the San Francisco Bay Area are usually open for indoor dining until 10. The Drive-thru times vary from closing at midnight to 2 AM. There may be a few 24 hour drive-thru windows.

[storewanderer]

Jack In The Box had kiosks in their San Francisco Bay Area stores up until around 2016 or so. Customers hated them. Nobody used them. They didn't take cash, and it was complicated to order. Most of the time it was so frustrating that you would just order the bare minimum and pay.

Ordering with a cashier lets the cashier recommend other menu items that you might like as well. People ordered less food using the kiosk. So you may save on labor, but your food sales will be down.

Then customers will complain that they ordered the wrong thing on the kiosk and the restaurant will have to remake the food. What a waste.

Restaurant chains have a very wide range of kiosks. Some of them are absolutely awful to use such as those at McDonald's. Others are decent, but still completely time-consuming. Most most do not take cash.

The Jack In the Box restaurants in the San Francisco Bay Area are usually open for indoor dining until 10. The Drive-thru times vary from closing at midnight to 2 AM. There may be a few 24 hour drive-thru windows.

The alternative to a kiosk is a video screen where a human overseas takes your order then you pay a cash accepting unit or pay with a card.

I do agree many customers hate kiosks. Kiosks don't always have a complete menu or always offer the customizations that you can get from a cashier.

I'm not sure how this will end. I expect a lot of unit closures.

Personally I'll just use a mobile app instead of a kiosk. The main place I interact with a kiosk is Taco Bell as I do not have their app. Their kiosk I find very easy to use and very easy to customize orders. But items are hidden and sometimes it is difficult to find the item I need. Also the kiosk does not print a receipt which is a problem for me.

[babs]

Jack In The Box had kiosks in their San Francisco Bay Area stores up until around 2016 or so. Customers hated them. Nobody used them. They didn't take cash, and it was complicated to order. Most of the time it was so frustrating that you would just order the bare minimum and pay.

Ordering with a cashier lets the cashier recommend other menu items that you might like as well. People ordered less food using the kiosk. So you may save on labor, but your food sales will be down.

Then customers will complain that they ordered the wrong thing on the kiosk and the restaurant will have to remake the food. What a waste.

Restaurant chains have a very wide range of kiosks. Some of them are absolutely awful to use such as those at McDonald's. Others are decent, but still completely time-consuming. Most most do not take cash.

The Jack In the Box restaurants in the San Francisco Bay Area are usually open for indoor dining until 10. The Drive-thru times vary from closing at midnight to 2 AM. There may be a few 24 hour drive-thru windows.

I do agree many customers hate kiosks. Kiosks don't always have a complete menu or always offer the customizations that you can get from a cashier.

I've actually learned about customizations that I didn't know were available due to a kiosk or app. I think more customization orders are placed due to apps and kiosks, which slow down the kitchen. Starbucks has learned this lesson the hard way.

[storewanderer]

Jack In The Box had kiosks in their San Francisco Bay Area stores up until around 2016 or so. Customers hated them. Nobody used them. They didn't take cash, and it was complicated to order. Most of the time it was so frustrating that you would just order the bare minimum and pay.

Ordering with a cashier lets the cashier recommend other menu items that you might like as well. People ordered less food using the kiosk. So you may save on labor, but your food sales will be down.

Then customers will complain that they ordered the wrong thing on the kiosk and the restaurant will have to remake the food. What a waste.

Restaurant chains have a very wide range of kiosks. Some of them are absolutely awful to use such as those at McDonald's. Others are decent, but still completely time-consuming. Most most do not take cash.

The Jack In the Box restaurants in the San Francisco Bay Area are usually open for indoor dining until 10. The Drive-thru times vary from closing at midnight to 2 AM. There may be a few 24 hour drive-thru windows.

I do agree many customers hate kiosks. Kiosks don't always have a complete menu or always offer the customizations that you can get from a cashier.

I've actually learned about customizations that I didn't know were available due to a kiosk or app. I think more customization orders are placed due to apps and kiosks, which slow down the kitchen. Starbucks has learned this lesson the hard way.

This really depends on the chain. I had no idea the level of customizing you could do at Taco Bell until I interacted with the kiosk.

Some chains have locked down customizations and even certain orders pretty well on the app. For instance at Popeyes if you want a single piece of chicken (which also includes a biscuit) like 1 leg, etc. the app does not allow that. You have to see the cashier. Another one at Popeyes is I like to get a side of red beans (no rice), then I will just make rice at home, since the red beans are where the flavor is. Again that is not something you can do on the app but you can easily do it through a cashier and there is a button for it.

Also at Carls Jr. if you want a single junior hamburger or junior cheeseburger (basically the kid burger but costs like 2.99) you cannot order through the app. The closest you can get is a double cheeseburger (uses 2 junior meat pieces). Another one you can't do on the Carls app is you cannot add "extra onion rings" to a Western which you can via the cashier (.25 extra).

Wendys has also locked down a lot of the customization previously available on their app. They still have some options but not like before. They rolled out the breakfast burrito and completely disabled the ability to do any customizing right from the start on that item, which I suspect will be a trend going forward (but you can still customize it via the cashier).

[Alpha8472]

I went to Taco Bell and said I had a mobile order. The cashier said, "Oh, God!"

She told me that when people do mobile orders, there are so many crazy customizations that can be missed. They end up having to remake the food and end up throwing away tons of food.

It really cuts into their profits and employees get into big trouble.

I always ended up with incorrect orders with missed customizations when I try to order on the Taco Bell app. It is a terrible system.

Trying to force kiosk ordering or app ordering ends up costing the company when incorrect orders need to be remade.

Starbucks has this issue, because customers are very picky about how they want their coffee customized. If it isn't perfect, it has to be thrown out and remade. It is a waste of labor and food.