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Insights and Expertise

StreetSmarts SM

Ready to cash in on self-attended

solutions? Part 2

By Allen Kopelman Tipping point for restaurants
Nationwide Payment Systems Inc. The time will come when robots roll up to your table with
drinks and meals. I've seen robots recite daily specials,
emember hearing that smart cards, quantum show images of meals on screens and even take orders
computing or mobile payments were two for sushi. I've seen robotic busboys putting dirty dishes
years away? Here's a news flash for people in tubs and rolling them back to the kitchen. These things
R who are saying the same thing about self- may seem like gimmicks now, but we're clearly at a
attended solutions: wake up and smell your self-serve cof- tipping point and, no pun intended, restaurants may have
fee. These trends are embedded in the fabric of our daily to rethink their tipping strategies.
lives and so common that consumers don't even think
about them anymore. Like payments, they just happen, Let's be real – if you are using robots instead of people,
and we are all better off because of that. do they really care about tips? European countries do
not even offer tipping on receipts; they factor tips into
Of course, you'll probably notice the first time a robot the food prices. Even bartenders are being replaced by
rolls up to your restaurant table and greets you by name. products that can mix drinks and serve large crowds
Some restaurants have already deployed robotic servers without needing to take a break.
that wake up when a guest scans a QR code to initiate
an order. These brave restaurateurs are early technology In some establishments, the servers walk up to the bar,
adopters in the restaurant trade. We owe them a debt of choose a wine, beer, or cocktail on a screen and let the
gratitude. computer make the drink. Some of these computers will
even tell the server what type of glass and garnish to use.
Just think how many times that merchant level salespeople
(MLSs) have pushed a new technology solution to our We've all seen merchants struggle with staff shortages,
customers. The ones that were willing to go on that beta and obviously robots don't need to take vacations or
test ride with us, suffering through the slings and arrows breaks. Staffing shortages are real; many people left the
until we got it right, are heroes. restaurant business during the pandemic and are not
coming back. In the post-pandemic era, restaurants, bars
Hats off to the pizza trucks delivering pies made by robots and nightclubs have found it necessary to adjust their
in the back of their vans. And how about the restaurants business models.
that recharge their wait staff every night? These early
adopters are working out the kinks, paving the way for
mainstream and late tech adopters.

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