What is the ROI of a kiosk?

We often hear that order kiosks quickly pay for themselves, and this is true provided they are efficient and offer an optimal customer experience.

To answer this question in this article, we prefer to talk about what we know: our Tabesto kiosks and the results we've seen with our customers.

In the overwhelming majority of cases, Tabesto kiosks pay for themselves in just 3 to 10 months, and can return between 1 and 10 times your investment in 3 years.

Let's take a look at how this translates into figures.

The ROI of a kiosk: 3 typical scenarios

Bollards have a direct impact on your sales in two ways:

• Increase in average ticket sales: from +10% to +30%, depending on your effectiveness in generating additional sales at the counter.
  
  
• Increase in the number of on-site orders: 0% to 20%, depending on the loss of existing customers during peak periods.

These increases depend on a number of factors (discussed in detail in the last section) and will have a major impact on the return on investment of your bollards.

Here's the ROI you can expect from the installation of kiosks in a point-of-sale, based on three typical scenarios: low, moderate or high impact, for a restaurant making 1,400 on-site orders per month at an average basket of €15 before the kiosks were installed.

‍Keep inmind that it's the orders of magnitude that are interesting in this exercise, as the exact figures depend on each restaurant.

Even with a cautious scenario (+5% average ticket sales and no increase in traffic), the kiosks pay for themselves in 10 months and generate €17,000 in additional sales in 3 years, after deducting equipment, subscription and commissions.

With a more moderate and frequent scenario (+10% average ticket and +5% flow), the kiosks pay for themselves in 3 months and generate €96,000 in sales over 3 years, after all costs have been deducted.

In the most extreme cases, where the flow is constantly saturated and additional sales are poorly promoted, the return on investment can exceed €200,000 in 3 years, and the terminals pay for themselves from the very first month.

These three scenarios clearly show that every month without a terminal represents a significant loss of revenue and profitability for your restaurant.

‍

How to estimate the ROI of your terminals in 3 steps

Whether you already have a quotation or not, here's how to estimate your return on investment, taking into account all the potential costs and benefits associated with bollards.

‍

1. Anticipated costs

There are two types of costs for a terminal:

• Hardware : approximately €2,500 for the first terminal (hardware, installation and set-up), then €2,000 for subsequent terminals.
  
  
• Annual recurring costs : €1,300/borne/year (subscription) + approx. 0.8% of your sales (commissions)

These figures are guidelines. Use the actual prices in your quotation to refine the calculation if necessary.

For more details on costs, please see our article "How much does a control terminal cost".

‍

2. Gains to be estimated

Bollards generate additional sales in two ways:

• Orders additional
  
  • 0% → if you never have a tail
  • +5% → if you sometimes lose a few customers
  • +10% → if you lose them regularly
  • +20% → if you lose a lot of customers
    
    
• An increase in the average basket
  
  • +5% → if your teams are already systematically making additional sales
  • +10% → if they do it from time to time
  • +20% → if they rarely do so during rush periods
  • +30% → if they never do it

With these two factors, you can calculate your additional sales:

Annual incremental sales = (Orders after increase orders × Average basket after increase) - Current sales

‍

3. Estimate your ROI

To estimate your ROI over 3 years, simply calculate :

4. Measuring real ROI after installation

Once your bollards are in place, compare your before-and-after results:

• Number of orders: 2 months before vs. 2 months after, trying to take into account seasonality, which can be very significant depending on the period.
  
  
• Average basket: over-the-counter 2 months before vs. kiosk 2 months after.
  

With this data, apply the previous method to calculate your real ROI.

Tip: If you're seeing a small increase in the average basket, then perhaps you need to improve your menu and suggestions to optimize your checkout experience.

Factors that will impact your ROI

The return on investment of your bollards depends on several factors:

• Initial counter efficiency: the slower or less optimal the order-taking, or the less prominence given to additional sales, the greater the gain.
  
  
• Kitchen concept and type: certain formats (fast-food, fast-casual, self-service) maximize the impact of kiosks.
  
  
• Number of kiosks installed: if you don't have enough kiosks, you won't make any money. Plan on one kiosk for around 30 orders per hour during busy periods, and add an extra one to prevent a kiosk from being blocked by slower customers.
  
  
• Restaurant traffic: the higher the number of visitors, the higher the profitability of the kiosks.
  
  
• Visibility and location of kiosks: well-placed, easy-to-reach kiosks attract more customers.
  
  
• Ordering experience and menu optimization : a smooth, intuitive shopping experience, as well as attractive photos and clear navigation, promote adoption.
  
  
• Additional sales: automatic suggestions for menus, formulas or supplements directly boost the average basket when strategically placed in the order path.

‍

In short, order terminals are not an expense, but an investment that quickly pays for itself: the majority of restaurants pay for themselves in just a few months, with a return of up to 10x in 3 years.

The more your concept and customer path are optimized, the more powerful this lever becomes. If you'd like to know what this would mean in concrete terms for your establishment, contact our advisors to run a simulation using your restaurant's data.

‍