Automating the customer service experience: What does it mean for the service industry?

Many among us don't remember a time when ATMs were rare and banking took place face-to-face across a counter. There was a time when checking in for a flight or for a night at a hotel involved paper, people and patience.

The first ATM made its debut at Barclay's Bank in London in 1967. Supermarket self-checkout stations were introduced in the 1990s and now are in use not only at grocery stores, but also at a range of big-box retailers.

We live in an era of self-service. It may be an offered option; sometimes there's no alternative.

New on the menu of customer service automation are e-tablets on restaurant tables -- including at Applebee's Grill and Bar in Cape Girardeau, part of the chain's introduction of 100,000 Presto devices at its more than 1,800 restaurants in the United States. The devices let customers order food, play games at the table and summon their servers.

During the few months the devices have been in use at the local Applebee's at 202 S. Broadview St., they've been going over "really well," said Sydney Lambert, the restaurant's marketing ambassador and server team leader.

The Presto e-tablet is being used in more than 1,800 Applebee's restaurants. (Courtesy)

Lambert cited some of the advantages of the 7-inch screens, which are the creation of the Silicon Valley firm E la Carte, powered by Intel and built to withstand the bumps and spills of a restaurant environment.

"Patrons like them. They keep a running total of their spending. They keep the children at bay with games, so they're not kicking and screaming. They can offer the customer a refill on their beverages, and they can alert the server to return to the table," Lambert said, adding while the tablets do not accept payment, that function likely will be added. The tablets haven't replaced the big, colorful menus that let customers browse through dining selections.

But, as the saying goes, we "eat with our eyes," and the screen's continual rotation of mouthwatering images has led to an increase in sales, Mike Archer, president of Applebee's, told USA Today.

Lambert echoes that, saying the Cape Girardeau restaurant has "definitely seen an increase in the sales of desserts, with the constantly flashing pictures. It's a visual thing."

"We view the tablets as an assistant to the server," Lambert said.

McDonald's is getting into the automation game, too, announcing late last year it plans to install self-service kiosks to allow patrons to place orders and customize selections. After an initial test in Southern California, McDonald's is rolling out the system to 2,000 locations in Missouri, Illinois, Wisconsin, Georgia and Pennsylvania.

At this point, it's not clear which Missouri McDonald's restaurants -- including those in Cape Girardeau and Jackson -- will be part of the test.

With the introduction of the ATM came a prediction bank tellers were an endangered species. While self-checkout first seemed to be a robotized version of the supermarket clerk, that's not the case. The self-checkout stations don't do the work -- they guide the shopper through the task.

Jon Townsend, co-manager of Schnucks market in Cape Girardeau, said self-checkout kiosks at the store are "very popular and have been successful from the beginning," and having an attendant oversee the four stations is a key to their acceptance.

Townsend said younger people especially are drawn to the stations where shoppers scan, bag and pay for their groceries.

"Younger folks easily migrated to the system because they're not afraid of the technology," Townsend said, citing speed of checkout is a factor for shoppers buying a few items. "Some people, on the other hand, like the interaction with the checkers and baggers" at the traditional checkout aisles, he noted.

RBR, a London-based business research and consulting firm, said the globally installed base of self-checkout will grow to 325,000 stations in 2019 from 191,000 in 2013.

A 2014 study by NCR Corporation, manufacturer of self-checkout systems, shows consumers like self-checkout because it's convenient, easy to use and faster than a cashier-assisted station. Of those who don't use it, 50 percent said they prefer cashier assistance, 29 percent said they feel they're doing work for the retailer, and 24 percent said they didn't know how.

Yes, stores and restaurants have introduced technologies that alter the customer experience, but it is the person's technology that ultimately may have the greater impact -- whether ordering a pizza for delivery or a carryout order via a home PC or mobile device or using mobile wallet applications such as Apple Pay and Google Wallet to take care of the tab.

Hospitality Technology magazine, in its 2104 Restaurant Technology Study, reported nearly one in four restaurants offer online ordering, and the move is to mobile platforms via apps and websites. HT said about 35 percent of restaurants have a mobile app. Less than half offer ordering capability but are adding it at a rapid pace.