Sponsored by GRUBBRR
Democratizing technology means that more people can access the latest technological goods and services in a way that is both equal and affordable. As technology continues to progress and new products continue to hit the market, access to technology continues to expand. In fact, some technologies, such as cell phones, have become so democratized that their possession is seen as an ubiquitous need.
Nevertheless, new technologies are often expensive when they are first introduced to the market, and this is especially true of proprietary self-ordering technology. Initially, self-ordering technology was seen as "too expensive" by restaurant and retail owners. In previous years, businesses would need to spend upwards of $10,000 to purchase kiosk hardware, not including millions of dollars on custom software, as was the case with McDonalds.
It is widely known that McDonalds, an early innovator in the kiosk technology space, expended significant resources on expensive form factor hardware, and millions of dollars on their proprietary software. McDonalds' highly publicized, enormous spending to create their kiosk solution scared many restaurant owners into thinking that self-ordering technology was unattainable due to complexity and price.
Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, self-ordering technology was gaining traction; however, the pandemic acted as an accelerant as retailers dealt with hiring challenges, wage gaps and labor shortages. Many business owners were forced to look for alternative solutions, and thus many of them landed on self-ordering technology.
In addition to increasing revenue, decreasing operating costs and enhancing the customer experience, kiosks also minimize human contact, provide reliability, and allow consumers to interact with businesses in a way that improves the experience for all parties involved. There was a belief that kiosks were "for the big guys,'' yet our GRUBBRR software paired with Samsung’s hardware has made the technology accessible to small, medium and enterprise clients.
Samsung’s entrance into the self-ordering kiosk market will democratize access to this technology for all business owners because Samsung has the resources to provide this comprehensive solution at a significantly lower price than other kiosk solutions.
What GRUBBRR and Samsung have done is develop an all-in-one solution, which includes both hardware and software, at an accessible price that further democratizes access to kiosk technology.
Samsung took a uniquely different approach in integrating all components of a kiosk into one form factor that is ready-to-go, out-of-the-box. The Samsung kiosk, powered by GRUBBRR, comes fully equipped with a high-resolution touch display, speaker, printer, scanner, and payment solution. Samsung’s screen is FDA approved antibacterial and antimicrobial.
Unlike competitors, who have solutions of disparate parts that are cobbled together without software (different companies for hardware, software, payment processing, etc.) the Samsung kiosk powered by GRUBBRR is a one-stop-shop kiosk.
It is important for SMB clients to have access to the same technology that QSRs do in order to facilitate their expansion. Not only does democratizing access to kiosk technology help allay problems caused by the labor shortage, but it also helps all businesses better meet their bottom line.
