Fiserv Debuts Restaurant Kiosks as Self-Service Gains Ground

Payments firm Fiserv has debuted a self-service solution for the restaurant industry.

The company’s new Clover Kiosk — and an enhanced 24-inch Clover Kitchen Display System — are designed to integrate with each other for better order management and reduced costs, Fiserv said in a Wednesday (April 17) news release.

“The restaurant industry continues to undergo significant change, and the right technology can help owners and operators adapt to run more efficiently and scale more effectively,” said Krystle Mobayeni, head of restaurant solutions at Fiserv.

“Clover is enabling restaurants to blend digital and physical experiences to meet diners’ expectations, while lifting a significant weight off the shoulders of restaurant staff.”

The launch of the Clover Kiosk is happening at a time when self-service is gaining traction in the restaurant, grocery and retail space, as PYMNTS wrote earlier this month, with merchants “making smarter choices about how they apply it.”

For example, in the restaurant sector — where balancing efficiency and service is critical — self-service kiosk provider Bite has raised $9 million in a Series A round. This new funding, PYMNTS argued, underlines the strong interest in this sort of solution for eateries.

“The restaurant industry is facing a very challenging environment, struggling to generate profits in the midst of an unprecedented labor shortage, rising minimum wages and cost inflation,” Bite CEO Brandon Barton said in a news release. “Bite’s self-service kiosk software gives restaurants the tools to succeed in this environment, by leveraging our technology for tasks that can be digitized and reallocating labor to higher priority responsibilities.”

The company says it employs artificial intelligence to personalize consumers’ experiences when making their orders, leading to average check increases of 20%.

Customers, meanwhile, say that they are open to self-service at quick-service and fast-casual restaurants, although not so much at full-service dining establishments.

The 2022 PYMNTS Intelligence study “The Digital Divide: Technology, the Metaverse and the Future of Dining Out” found that a little more than half of grab-and-go customers said ordering through a self-service kiosk would positively affect their satisfaction, while 20% of dine-in customers said the same.

“For restaurants, there is such a thing as too much technology,” PYMMTS added. “The same study found that 39% of consumers said restaurants have become increasingly less personal, and 77% of restaurant customers said staff friendliness is the most important feature a restaurant needs to provide.”