Here's the Latest Fast Food Giant Trying to Swap Employees With Robots
In the future, you may be able to order a taco from Taco Bell without talking to an employee making $15 an hour.
The fast food giant has launched self-ordering kiosks at one location near its headquarters in Irvine, Calif., TheStreet has learned (photo below). A spokeswoman for Taco Bell's parent company, Yum! Brands (YUM) - Get Report , confirmed the "digital test store" but declined to share details on when it was launched and the company's plans for self-ordering machines. By the looks of the setup, the three giant tablets replace three cash registers that would typically be manned by wage-collecting humans.
Taco Bell joins a growing list of fast food companies experimenting with self-ordering machines as a way to combat escalating wages for workers.
Wendy's (WEN) - Get Report said recently it will have self-service ordering kiosks available to its 6,000-plus restaurants in the second half of the year. The company's new CEO, Todd Penegor, conceded to analysts on a May 11 call that the tech rollout was due in large part to rising labor costs.
Meanwhile, the world's largest restaurant chain, McDonald's (MCD) - Get Report , has been the most aggressive with self-ordering kiosks.
According to a source who attended McDonald's annual Worldwide Convention in April, the company now has self-ordering kiosks (photo below) in more than 600 U.S. restaurants. By year's end, it plans to have them in 1,000 locations. The company also has the technology in about 45% of its 7,900 European restaurants.
The company has even dabbled with a sleeker look for its ordering tablets (photo below).
McDonald's expects to "re-image" or remodel 400 to 500 restaurants in the U.S. this year, with enhancements including the addition of side-by-side drive thrus, self-ordering kiosks, and potentially, digital menu boards in all restaurants.
And so those dire predictions seen in big budget movies seem to be coming true -- it really is the rise of the machines.