Panera Bread is replacing cashiers with kiosks — and it feels totally dystopian
Hollis Johnson
BusinessInsider.com
Nov. 10, 2015
“You’re only as good as the people you hire,” said Ray Kroc, the mythical businessman behind McDonald’s worldwide success.
But what if you don’t hire people?
Well, Panera Bread is going to find out.
As part of the fast-casual cafe chain’s reinvention process, Panera is building ordering kiosk centers to replace cashiers.
This new technology results in labor savings for Panera, allowing for more staff within the cafe itself. But what does this mean for the customer?
“The kiosk and other digital interfaces encourages true menu browsing – not only of ingredients, but also nutritionals — which has led to an increase in personalized orders,” Janet Reinhardt, a Panera representative, told Business Insider. It also results in shorter lines and improved accuracy for orders.
Panera is in the process of converting its cafes to the Panera 2.0 model. I decided to take a quick visit to a recently converted location in NYC to see how the new ordering system works.
The Rest…HERE
