“Businesses overcome challenges all the time,” said Jegil Dugger, co-founder and CEO of self-service solutions firm Pye. “Minimum wage increases, though, always seem to be a black-and-white issue: covering increased pay means taking drastic measures. The good thing is that this is not an overnight change and actually was inevitable. So owners have time to strategize how an increase in the minimum wage can be a positive impact to their operations.”

Part of the answer to reshaping a business model centers on investment – in people and in technology.

To the latter, technology such as kiosks increasingly has emerged as cornerstones of the new business model in the restaurant and retail industries, and the digital solutions will play an even larger role moving forward. Here’s a couple of key reasons why:

Compliment the workforce

Kiosks are intended to supplement the workforce. Critics in the past have described the technology as a facade, disguised as mechanical replacements for labor, which represents part of a restaurant or retailer’s largest expense alongside food and supplies.

But with many businesses still struggling to hire enough workers to attain full staff in the post-COVID environment, they can use kiosks to stand in as stable members of the staff that come at a fixed cost – a cost they’ve largely already paid.

Improve the customer experience

Long lines generally mean long wait times. And those two serve to sour customers who expect efficiency and speed with their orders.

At high-traffic times, kiosks can be used to enable customers to order and pay on demand, keeping them from having to congregate with others in front of a bank of registers. At fast casual eateries, the units allow diners sitting at tables to place their orders through the device, which connects wirelessly to the restaurant’s main point-of-sale system and kitchen displays, sending their request directly to the cooks. They don’t have to wait for a server, who may be tied up with other tables or duties.

Decreased wait times increase the consumer experience and keep those diners coming back.

While most devices at the point of sale only process electronic transactions, several units with Pye’s suite of self-service solutions stand out for their ability to accept payments with dollar bills, quickly and accurately counting inserted money and dispensing change as appropriate.

“More people handling money equals more chances for human error to enter into the mix,” said Jegil Dugger, founder and CEO of Pye. “It also becomes difficult to trace errors back to the source, which means it is difficult to fix them.”

In this age dominated by electronic payments, cash remains a force in businesses where bill totals are relatively small. CreditCards.com reported that cash is the preferred payment method even among credit card rewards members. Some 43 percent of shoppers opted to pay cash for purchases of less than $10.

More notably to the broader business community, 88% of consumers indicated that they use cash for purchases at least occasionally. That makes kiosks capable of handling bills more appealing – to both restaurant owners, retailers and consumers.

“Consumers aren’t carrying around huge amounts of cash with them, so they aren’t likely to spend huge amounts,” Dugger said. “Still, businesses need the ability to accommodate someone preferring to pay with cash. A solution that incorporates cash payments makes your kiosks truly self-service.”

Self-service kiosks can be game-changers. Research shows that use of the technology makes the process of ordering and paying twice as fast.

That’s vital to restaurants and retailers. The ability to move customers through more quickly means more people can be served, translating into increased revenue and a greater profit share.

Reducing long lines will increase our profit, businesses say. The technology’s design speeds up the overall operation, allowing them serve more customers in a shorter time while increasing revenue and customer satisfaction.

That fact that kiosks are commonplace worldwide means most consumers have at least a decent – if not an expert – level of familiarity with technology’s functionality. A unit in use at a restaurant or retailer isn’t likely to catch shoppers off guard. They’ll simply walk up, flip through the available items onscreen or key in their products and pay with a card.

“When I go somewhere, I just want to scan my card and don’t need a receipt,” said Jegil Dugger, founder and CEO of Pye. “That’s what most people are going to do.”

“Owners have to strategize on how best to answer such significant challenges,” said Jegil Dugger, founder and CEO of self-service solutions firm Pye. “Technology is a key part of the solution. Kiosks are the transactional tools now and of the future.”

Innovation is serving as the driver for momentous change within the restaurant and retail industries. The incorporation of technology into everyday business practices, however, represents something of a slippery slope of potential scrutiny.

Technology is often assailed as a job and business killer instead of as a solution that brings about efficiency and effectiveness. What typically gets lost in the conversation – and was absent through much of the pandemic – is the role technology can play in bridging the gap from one income level to another.

Part of the answer to shaping the way forward centers on investment in technology, Dugger says.

Technology such as self-service kiosks increasingly has emerged as cornerstones of the new business model, and the digital solutions are playing an even larger role in the post-outbreak environment.

With technology expanding the capabilities and tasks users can perform on their own, there is not as much need for workers standing around the machines to provide guidance. Managers can reposition staff during busy hours to focus on other tasks instead of those that could easily be done through a machine.

Besides that, kiosks can stand in as stable members of the staff that come at a fixed cost – a cost companies largely pay for upfront. There are no training expenses, and businesses don’t have to ensure these “workers” have breaks. They’re always on, ready to serve.

“Businesses, particularly those built on service, want immediate solutions, but also long-term, permanent solutions to futureproof their operations against adversity,” Dugger said. “The kiosk industry has long billed this technology as a viable tool for most any business. These are effective solutions that are meeting emerging needs.”