“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.