The retro upgrade is a cashier

Fast food chains are rolling out a new customer service feature: actual people behind the counter. After a decade of screens, human contact is the thing being reinstalled.

“Fast-food chains are going old school with an innovative customer service update: human cashiers.”

How we got here

McDonald's, Burger King and Starbucks spent years nudging people into apps with exclusive deals and swapping counter staff for touch-screen kiosks. Order accuracy and speed were the pitch.

Kiosks pushed people away

Self-pay screens came with their own irritations: price surges at Shake Shack, tip prompts at Popeyes, and stores so thin on staff that lobbies and drive-thrus back up at night.

“There were at least eight cars in the drive-thru and people in the lobby.”

McDonald's retrains 2 million

Two years after launching kiosks built to need fewer cashiers, McDonald's announced "Make it Golden," retraining two million employees on service and running more hospitality evaluations. Kiosks stay, but so does a human.

Burger King moves the screens

Burger King is redesigning stores so kiosks sit along the walls instead of blocking the entrance, with a cashier calling out orders. In 2023 its CEO said kiosks removed "stressful interactions" at the register.

“digital kiosks eliminate "stressful interactions"”

Starbucks bets $1 billion on staying

Starbucks is remodeling stores for customers who feel lonely and disconnected: leather seating, rugs, bookshelves, 25,000 more seats, more outlets, and 200,000 Sharpies to bring back handwritten cup messages.

“The world is coming back to this, being in a place and meeting with humans, not being distant.”