The Robot Will Take Your Order Now: America Lags Behind In Tech-Based Food Ordering

Craving fried chicken in Shanghai? A voice-activated robot can take your order at a KFC concept store there.

Burger King customers in Seoul are paying for their Whoppers with the location-based mobile electronic “Syrup Wallet.”

And if you need a super-fast Bacon & Egg Muffin from Hungry Jack’s in Australia, just pre-set the radio frequency-enabled Brekk-E-Tagwith your go-to order, clip it to your car’s sun visor, and breakfast will be ready for you when you hit the drive-thru.

When it comes to tech-assisted restaurant ordering, the future is now–especially if you live in Asia or the Middle East. America, however, is playing catch-up.

That doesn’t mean consumers in the United States don’t want to be able to place food orders via robot or tablet or radio frequency-enabled chips. Far from it, in fact.


Among those in the coveted 18- to 34-year-old demographic, 77% want or expect mobile ordering at fast-food restaurants and 83% feel the same way about fast-casual chains, according to Technomic’s 2016 Future of LSR: Fast-Food & Fast-Casual Consumer Trend Report.