Kiosk Best Practices: How to Set Up for Success

Your kiosk isn’t just a screen — it’s part of your service experience.

When it’s set up right, it helps customers move faster, reduces pressure on staff, and creates a smoother in-store flow. When it’s not, it often gets ignored — and queues build anyway.

This guide walks through simple, practical ways to set your kiosk up for success.

☕ What this is really about

A kiosk works best when it feels like a natural part of your venue — not an extra step. Customers shouldn’t have to think about using it. It should feel obvious.

When it’s set up right, you’ll notice customers naturally moving toward it, ordering without hesitation, and freeing up your team to focus on service instead of taking orders.

🚪 The “Walk-In Test”

A simple way to evaluate your setup is to experience it like a customer.

Stand outside your venue and walk in.

Ask yourself:

• Do I notice the kiosk straight away?

• Is it clear I should use it?

• Or do I instinctively walk to the counter?

If you miss it, your customers likely will too.

🧭 Where It Should Live

Think of your kiosk as a host at the door. Its job is to guide customers into the right flow from the moment they enter.

The best placement is where customers naturally pause — near the entrance, at the start of the queue, or along their natural path. This is where decisions happen.

When the kiosk is placed too late in the journey (like next to the register) or off to the side, it becomes optional — and most customers will skip it.

🔁 Building a natural flow

Great venues feel effortless, and your kiosk should too. Aim for a simple, obvious flow — order, pay, pick up — with a clearly marked pickup area and no confusion about what happens next. If customers have to cross traffic or figure out where to go after ordering, the experience breaks down before it's even started.

👋 The first 3 days matter most

Your team sets the tone early on. A light, friendly nudge from staff — something as simple as "you can order just here" with a point to the kiosk — makes a real difference in those first few days. Keep it warm and low-pressure. After a short while, customers start using it on their own without any prompting.

⚡️ Keep it fast

Speed equals trust. If the kiosk is slow or glitchy, customers will default to staff — and that defeats the purpose. Make sure it's running on a strong, stable WiFi connection, always powered on, and free from screen glare that makes it hard to read. A kiosk that loads quickly and responds instantly earns repeat use.

🧱 Give it space

A crowded kiosk is an unused kiosk. Customers need enough room to step in comfortably, browse, and step out without feeling like they're in the way. Aim for space for one or two people to stand easily, and make sure the kiosk placement doesn't create a bottleneck near the entrance.

📈 Start small, learn fast

You don't need to get everything perfect on day one. Watch how customers interact with the kiosk in the first week — where they hesitate, whether they find it, how they move through the space. Small adjustments to placement or signage can make a significant difference to how often it gets used.

🎯 If customers aren't using it

If customers are walking past it, asking staff how to order, or ignoring it entirely, it's not a tech problem. It's almost always a placement or flow issue. Go back to the walk-in test, look at where people's eyes naturally land when they enter, and adjust from there.

Need help?

If something feels off, it probably is — and it's usually an easy fix. Browse the Help Centre for setup guides and tips, or reach out to our team directly and we'll help you get it working the way it should.