Automated kiosks do not save money

You forgot facts and evidence in your assertion.

Saves the fast food place money, which is the point.

Just like self checkout. Instead of one cashier per register you have one cashier for 4-6 registers. Meanwhile you're doing the store's job for free and not even getting a discount.

You are missing the point, I said saving money, not the restaurant saving money. How much money is your time worth, more than the kid who used to check you out at McDs? I would hope so. They just transferred the cost to you, and the cost is your time.

Yes, but the alternative is raise prices to pay many people some artificially inflated wage for pressing one of 24 buttons.

Economics 101.

You are missing the point.

Now that is funny.

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If i use the self checkout, shouldn’t I get a price reduction for doing the work myself?

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You save money by keeping prices down at the grocery store just as at the fast food location. Lower labor costs means savings for customers since competition keeps prices competitive.

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Thats the argument, you can cut headcount and save money, thats not true.

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Anyone making that argument alone (whether for or against) is a moron.

There are two aspects to replacing workers with kiosks: variable costs and fixed costs.

The use of employees is a variable cost based on the amount of business (both projected and actual). If a business has high traffic, it takes more employees to service all these customers; conversely if there is low traffic (or not the expected amount) then it takes fewer employees. For every employee there is training costs, time for a manager to do scheduling and taxes.

In contrast, using a kiosk (or kiosks) is a fixed cost as the number of kiosks remains constant despite how busy the business is. The only ongoing overhead items are the cost of electricity and any warranty/repairs.

With all this in mind, a busier business with minimal skill requirements (like a McDonald's, for instance) would benefit from a kiosk whereas a slower business or one that requires more skill may not benefit.

To put numbers into this... if it costs $10k to purchase, install and run a kiosk for the first year and then $2k every year thereafter (warranties, electricity, IT support, etc), that's a cost of $20k over 5 years. Paying an employee $7.50/hour for 30 hours a week comes out to ~$10,800 per year, which makes for a 5-year cost of $54k. So for every employee replaced the business is saving ~$5,400 per year over the course of 5 years.

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You are missing the point, I said saving money, not the restaurant saving money. How much money is your time worth, more than the kid who used to check you out at McDs? I would hope so. They just transferred the cost to you, and the cost is your time.

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Go back and read the thread about the couple in MD who just saw their morning Egg McMuffins jump up a whole dollar as MD pushes toward a $15/hour minimum wage (the price jump is as they are now at $12.25, I believe). They've decided that it's not longer worth their money to purchase morning breakfast at that McDonald's any longer. As that price increases, more customers will feel the same.

Those dollars that had been going to the kid who used to check you out at McD's are now going to the kid at the grocery store or the kid working at the McD's across the state line where the minimum wage is lower. The owner of the McD's will eventually put in kiosks to lower his price back down to the range where customers will come back daily once again for a more affordable Egg McMuffin.

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Automated kiosks

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Who now operates that kiosk..

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Automated

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