Digital Fast Food Kiosks Might Look Cool, But They're Worse For Your Wallet

Pull up to most major fast food chain restaurants, head inside, and more often than not rather than speaking to someone at the counter (as they did in the olden days), you'll come face-to-face with a digital kiosk. For people who like to customize their food to their heart's content or for introverts who like to limit their human interactions (as can also be the case with grocery self-checkout), these can be a huge win. However, they're also great for the restaurant's bottom line.

The main reason you might start to see more kiosks in more fast food restaurants (regardless of how you feel about them) is that these chains are finding people spend more when ordering digitally in-store instead of placing their order with a cashier. The next time you order McDonald's at a kiosk, pay attention to whether or not the machine tries to upsell you by making your individual sandwich into a meal or asking if you want to upgrade the size of your fries.

Also, be mindful of how much time you spend in front of the kiosk, especially in comparison with time spent in front of a cashier. With kiosks, customers feel less pressure to hurry through and order. They take their time perusing the menu and adding customizations that often include an upcharge.

Customers who are less comfortable with digital technology might find the idea of kiosks off-putting — or straight-up confusing — preferring to interact with a human behind a cash register. Older consumers may also view it as performing labor that they aren't getting paid for. (In fact, they're paying more with fast food prices on the rise.)

However, it's not all bad. While you might end up paying more in the long run, digital kiosk ordering in restaurants also tends to increase order accuracy because it eliminates the risk of a cashier mishearing you in a loud environment. You might also shorten your wait time, especially if the restaurant has more kiosks than cashiers. And, hey, if you want 30 sauces in a variety of flavors, isn't it a lot easier (to say nothing of less embarrassing!) to order that at a kiosk than asking a cashier for it?