Motor City Casino Hotel in Detroit needed a self-service kiosk solution for three of its restaurants that suffered from overcrowding around the cashiers, large customer queue lines, and high workforce costs. NEXTEP SYSTEMS developed a solution that features the industry’s only split-tender capability.
Read the how the installation paid for itself in just a few months here.Self-service kiosk solution at Detroit casino provides swift service and no wait for patrons.
By Patrick Avery KioskMarketplace.com
The background
NEXTEP SYSTEMS is a provider of customer self-service solutions to the quick-serve, fast-casual, concessions and casino markets. MotorCity Casino Hotel in Detroit, Mich., needed a self-service kiosk solution for three of its restaurants.
The challenge
MotorCity Casino Hotel has three restaurants for casino guests. Recently, these foodservice outlets — MotorCity Pit Stop BBQ, Grand River Deli and Classics Buffet — were victims to overcrowding around the cashiers and large customer queue lines. In addition, workforce costs hindered the casino’s bottom line.
Working with NEXTEP, MotorCity Casino Hotel sought an easy-to-use kiosk solution that would move customers through the lines more quickly and allow the casino to utilize its cashiers in other places.
The solution
Working closely with the casino, NEXTEP went to work on a device that would offer customers a quick and efficient way to order and pay for their food. NEXTEP’s Casino Express kiosk was the resulting product.
The casino placed 12 of the kiosks in its restaurants: six in the buffet, four in the deli and two in the barbecue. The self-order kiosks allow customers to order meals through a touchscreen-ordering system. The devices provide an easy-to-use and attractive interface, said Chuck Wheeler of NEXTEP.
"Guests genuinely enjoy using the kiosks," Wheeler said. "No one has any trouble using them."
In addition, the software is very flexible, he said. Meals may be paid for with Club Metro Comp, cash, credit, coupons or any combination of the four. The kiosks can be administered remotely and can operate on a wired or wireless network.
The results
The Casino Express kiosk installation has moved customers in and out of the three restaurants effectively, said David Nehra, chief information officer at MotorCity Casino Hotel. In addition to improving customer service and eliminating queue lines, the kiosks have helped the casino increase sales – the deli alone has increased sales by 28 percent.
The installation paid for itself after a few months of use.
"The kiosks have saved us five times what we put into them," Nehra said. "As we move into other ventures that would support self-service, I think we will endeavor to use those devices. This was a great move on our part."
MotorCity Casino has already begun construction on a casino coffee bar, which will also contain a self-order kiosk.
