Ziosk in Review

UPDATE: I have a new review of Ziosk that includes videos of how it is used. Many of my opinions of the device are still in this post, however, so check out both to get a full overview of its pros and cons.

While shopping for some items before the family goes on what has become our yearly Disney trip, we stopped by the local Red Robin to grab some lunch.  While being led to our table, I noticed a small video screen on a stand at every table we walked by.  We were seated, and moments later our server stopped by to introduce herself and provide us with our very own video screen.  More precisely, it was a Ziosk table top media system that has been rolled out in some Chili's, a number of Red Robins, and is pushing hard to expand their customer base in other locations.  The idea is to allow the customer to directly order some or all of the menu items directly through the computer without having to wait for the server.  In addition, it provides the ability to pay via credit or debit card directly through the machine and offers some games to kill the time while you wait for your food.

This is an idea I have had for fifteen plus years, though my idea was more along the lines of, "What if you had a screen at your table that you could just order your food from and it would be delivered directly to your table?"  Pretty close to the reality, until I would continue, "You wouldn't need any servers, the kitchen would be below (or above) you, and when the food is ready, it is raised (lowered) on a platform directly onto your table.  Your glasses would have a valve on the bottom that you just pushed onto a protrusion in the table that injected your drink of choice into your glass so you always had refills."  Ok, so I went a little overboard, but I was in high-school at the time.  Give me a break.  I still think they are good ideas, just a bit ahead of their time.

A Brief Review of Ziosk

Ziosk, LLC, formerly Table Top Media, was created by three students, Shawn Gentry, Raymond Howard, and Viren Balar at Southern Methodist University for the SMU Business Plan Competition, which it won in 2006.  It is basically just a Android tablet attached to a stand which also contains a printer for receipts. (I have thus far tried and failed to find a tablet that matches the exact look of the one they use, so either they had one custom built for them, or it is a fairly obscure model.  My attempts to determine the model will continue.)  If you have ever been to a Sheetz and used their made-to-order computer system, it is very similar.

Ziosk claims a 15% increase in tips, 20% increase in appetizer sales, 30% increase in dessert sales, a $0.40 increase in a restaurant's per person average (PPA), and a 300% increase in eClub enrollment.  Knowing how the mind responds so much more emotionally to images rather than text, this is not surprising.  The instant availability of the system versus waiting for your server to walk by also means more impulse purchasing.

The Ziosk table top media system, complete with touchscreen, camera, credit card reader, server notification light (on top), and receipt printer.

The Ziosk Experience

The result of using Ziosk is not perfect, but pretty good.  It is lacking (or at least what I used at Red Robin was lacking) in a few areas, but that seemed more to do with how Red Robin wanted it rather than any technical limitations.  I get the feeling that this, or some other company's version of it, will be huge in the next five years.  If I had to guess, I'd say Ziosk will do very well, simply because it pays to be first, and they appear to have a very easy-to-use, very scalable product.

Ordering using Ziosk

Our waitress informed us that we can order appetizers, desserts, and alcoholic beverages through Ziosk.  Entrees and soft drinks are still ordered in-person.  After ordering drinks, we played with Ziosk, flipping through the pictures of the appetizers until we decided on the Chicken Chili Nachos.  This is one of the areas Ziosk excels.  While you may have one or two pictures of the most popular appetizers in the paper menu, Ziosk has pictures of every appetizer, dessert, and alcoholic beverage listed.  Ziosk claims a 20% increase in appetizer sales, and I am not surprised.  Seeing pictures of the food makes the customer far more likely to want it, and the relative ease of use of Ziosk means you have ordered the food before you had a chance to second-guess yourself.

We navigated through a few pages as the system customized our order (toppings, allergies, etc) then at the last page clicked "next" and it switched back to the main menu (Which, by the way, is scrolling pictures of food and advertisements, not just a static menu.) I got an uneasy feeling about how the order ended because I am used to systems that are more explicit to make darned sure you know it has your order and it is being made.

So my wife and I continued on talking, our waitress took our lunch order, and before we knew it, our lunch had arrived.  No appetizer.  At this point I was pretty confident the order didn't go through.  After playing with it for a few seconds, I found that there was still one item in our shopping cart, the chicken chili nachos.  Well it was too late for those now, so they were deleted.  Definitely a disappointment.

During lunch we both needed refills on our soda, and remembering seeing an option to request drink refills on Ziosk, I clicked over to that menu and chose the "order refills" button.  The system responded that we had no drinks available to refill, so we had to ask the waitress to get them the next time she stopped by.  Another disappointment.

After lunch we wanted to try out the system again, and having missed out on those chicken chili nachos, we ordered dessert through Ziosk.  This time the last menu transitioned to the shopping cart, where it does indeed have an "Order" button, which, when clicked, then verifies if you are sure you want to order the item. That made me feel much more confident our food would arrive, and sure enough, it did within five minutes or so.

Since this was my first time using Ziosk, and I could not recreate what happened when ordering dessert, I am going to have to chalk up that appetizer mix-up to user error.  So I will remove one disappointment from Ziosk, though most customers don't care whether the error was the fault of the computer or their fat fingers.  They care that the system acts how they expect it, and if something unexpected happens because there is an easy way to graze a button that gives the appearance that you ordered without actually completing it, the system failed.  People will have a bad experience and will not want to use it again.  I don't know what I did to cause the appetizer error, but it needs to be fixed.

The second disappointment with our drinks may also not be the fault of Ziosk.  When paying for our bill, we noticed the receipt only listed "No Beverages" as the first line item for $0.00, and no charge for any sodas.  I am not sure if this was an error caused by the server, Ziosk, or just some integration issues caused by installing a new computer system, but this is likely the reason for our inability to order refills.  Yet again, this is one of those details that has to get ironed out before a national rollout, but I am willing to forgive them this time.

Paying using Ziosk

Paying for the order could not have been easier.  I simply clicked "View Receipt", selected "Pay with Card" and swiped my bank card.  Next I had to choose my tip with a slider bar that was quite easy to use, and makes it easy to see why Ziosk claims a 15% increase in tips (2.88% higher than the average tip of 19.2%) when using their system.  Ziosk then asked if I wanted my receipt printed or emailed.  Since I am not normally a collector of receipts, digital or otherwise, I chose to print it just to see how the printer works.  Other than a weird... feature... lets call it a feature... that did not pre-tear my receipt or provide a sharp edge of any kind to allow me to create a straight edge at the bottom of the receipt, everything worked smoothly.

Gaming with Ziosk

Another interesting feature of Ziosk is the gaming options.  With Ziosk, instead of killing the time between ordering and eating by actually talking to each other, you have the options to play a wide array of games. ($1.99 for the entire meal)  I guess this might not be a completely terrible idea if you have ornery children and just want one meal together that doesn't end with everyone screaming at each other, but it seems pointless for most situations.

What was weirder was the games weren't all geared towards children.  While I cannot remember all the available games, I vividly remember seeing solitaire as an option.  The only thing I can think of that is sadder than seeing someone eating alone at a restaurant, novel in one hand, fork in the other, is a person eating alone while playing solitaire.  Well at least they are getting out of the house.

Something I didn't see, but seems like an obvious addition, is social gaming.  It would be much more enticing if you could play a game and compete against another table, or link with everyone's smartphones at the table and have an intra-table match.  That is a service that Ziosk could provide that is more than when your smartphone can do.  The current gaming options seem pointless and definitely not worth the $1.99 for a one hour meal.

EDIT: After searching the internet, it appears that there is at least some trivia gaming available with Ziosk.  I am not sure if I didn't see it or they do not yet offer it at Red Robin.  I will have to go again to see what I missed.

Social Networking with Ziosk

This is a feature that Ziosk advertises on their website but I did not see at Red Robin.  I don't know if they do not offer at Red Robin right now or I just completely missed it, but there is supposedly the option to do things like check-in and share your restaurant experience on Facebook, as well as take and upload your photo at the restaurant to Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  This seems like another feature that will not be widely used because I have a hard time imagining there are many people on Facebook who regularly check-in to places they visit, yet do not have a smartphone.  I am struggling to think of a social networking service that Ziosk could provide that isn't already available on my smartphone.

Ziosk is Going to Become the Norm

One of the advertised advantages of Ziosk is larger tips for servers.  This is undoubtedly true, but I see Ziosk  removing the need for as many servers in the long-run.  If the entire menu is available on Ziosk, servers would only be there to bring your food and remove your dishes.  You could probably run a restaurant with half as many servers or fewer.  This isn't so great for the servers it replaces, but is great for the servers that remain and for restaurant owners.  I definitely expect to see server jobs dwindle as Ziosk or Ziosk-like systems become more prevalent.  

This system definitely has potential and is offering a service that is not widely available.  It has a couple minor design issues that aren't showstoppers, and has a ton of room for improvement.  Designing this around an Android tablet makes it easily scalable, and with the potential benefits it provides to businesses, I have a heard time not seeing these or something very similar being in every casual restaurant in five to ten years.  I cannot speak to the business side of things, but if they are managed even remotely well, Ziosk is going to do very well.