The Impact of Kitchen Display Systems on Customer Satisfaction



As children visiting fast food joints or restaurants for special meals, many of us have likely been restless, waiting to relish that finger-licking dish which might not have been a part of our regular meals. It won’t be surprising to learn that consumer behaviour has changed very little since then: people still look at the ticking clock, now replaced by giant display screens in many outlets, expecting the order to arrive. This is where Kitchen Display Systems (KDS) play a major role. 

Most F&B players, particularly restaurant owners, would agree the central goal of Kitchen Display Systems is not just to create this anticipation but to indicate two key factors: 

  • Punctuality: The kitchen staff and service professionals value the customer’s time. Hence, the restaurant can successfully project that the staff is focused on delivering the order within the due timeline. 
  • Care: By spending just the right amount of time, the kitchen staff aims to take maximum care while preparing the dish, offering the best possible meal in terms of taste and quality. 

So, before we dive into the impact of Kitchen Display Systems on customers, let’s explore the effect that waiting time has on restaurant guests. 

Ideal Service Time & Customer Satisfaction: Waiting Too Much, Too Little & Waiting Time Perception 

A study titled “Waiting Time Influence on the Satisfaction-Loyalty Relationship in Services”, published in Managing Service Quality, a reputed international journal revealed some interesting insights. Here are a few of them presented in a simplified manner: 

  • Satisfaction around waiting time is influenced by the actual waiting time and the perceived waiting time. 
  • Customers might not mind the wait as much if they are in a pleasant environment and are updated about the delay by the service professionals, showing that the restaurant is attentive to their convenience. 
  • If the environment is welcoming and engaging, the satisfaction customers get from the service, i.e., food quality and how the front-of-the-house staff attend to the guests, also improves. 
  • Prior information about the delay offers more customer satisfaction than the restaurant environment. 
  • Waiting time colours how customers perceive the quality of the service and affects loyalty. 
  • Service satisfaction doesn’t impact loyalty as much if the customer is happy with the waiting time. This factor implies that the restaurant must compensate with impressive service if loyalty is on the line. 

Further, a Deloitte study named “The Restaurant of the Future Arrives Ahead of Schedule: Time to Get on Board” offered a concrete idea about the ideal wait time. 75% of the people the report surveyed thought 30 minutes make a reasonable wait time, while 25% of the respondents said that they don’t mind waiting for 45 minutes, and only 5% of the population surveyed thought a 60-minute wait time is acceptable. 

Kitchen Display Systems: A Key Tool for Streamlining Restaurant Operations 

As per a Deloitte report, about 54% of survey respondents in a study said they prefer partially or fully automated kitchens, indicating that including digital solutions such as KDS is a positive step towards customer satisfaction. KDS can enhance several tasks in an F&B business, including: 

Placing the Order Right 

When a restaurant implements a Kitchen Display System, it is fair to assume that the business has opted for an end-to-end Digital Transformation. Therefore, the role of service professionals becomes more about adding a human element to the dining experience than someone who takes orders or necessarily suggests dishes. 

Because of the Digital Transformation, restaurants are likely to have also shifted to tablets for placing orders, which send an error-free request to the Point-of-Sale (POS) machine. Once the POS registers the order, a Kitchen Oder Ticket (KOT) is displayed on the KDS at the same time. This process eliminates the scope of human error while taking orders, thus improving service satisfaction. The device can also update the order instantly if there are last-minute modifications. 

Tracking Meal Preparation 

The Kitchen Display System connects the kitchen staff to the restaurant floor. In this way, managers, owners, and chefs can stay alert about the promised wait time. The display helps the front-of-the-house staff seek a real-time update on the progress towards order completion a few minutes before the informed wait time is over. Thus, in case of delays, the service professionals can not only keep the guests informed but also ensure that they are entertained. As the study mentioned above found, informing customers about delays can improve their satisfaction with the service. 

By improving the transparency around meal preparation, KDS also helps the restaurant management identify challenges in the kitchen, creating a scope for improvement. Further, if all the orders can be prepared in time but a few are prepared before time, then the restaurant waiters can prioritise the time to serve based on the order placement time. Thus, the staff can avoid the awkward situation of having to serve orders which were placed later while the previous ones are still in the kitchen. 

On the other hand, if a single order is prepared well before the wait time is over, KDS can be a great tool as well. This is because the timer on the KDS concretely shows that the restaurant has gone above and beyond to cater to them efficiently. 

Prioritising Meal Preparation 

A restaurant’s kitchen is often bustling with activities, particularly during rush hours, as several KOTs are generated one after the other. At the same time, in certain food outlets, such as several QSR chains, the wait time is non-negotiable and can directly cost the business a refund. Luckily, not all dishes take the same time, as many of them can be made using bases that are already prepared. This is where Kitchen Display Systems play a vital role. Based on the wait time and the preparation time, the kitchen staff can prioritise the order of cooking the items. 

Going Sustainable 

KDS can successfully replace paper KOTs, thus helping restaurants reduce their use of paper and be more sustainable than they previously were. This means restaurants can save their ink and paper costs by incorporating the solution. Also, with fewer order issues, the restaurant’s food wastage should potentially be reduced. 

Other Advantages of Kitchen Display Systems 

Once a restaurant adopts a Kitchen Display System for a while, it begins to understand what its standard wait time should be. With the right benchmark for efficiency, the business can invest in steps to manage customer satisfaction. Such measures could include enhancing restaurant decor and introducing restaurant entertainment, among other improvements. Moreover, the expected wait time can also be changed using a marketing campaign. 

Looking for Some of the Best Kitchen Display Systems? Discover Our Solutions 

Posiflex is one of the leading technology companies worldwide, known for its excellent POS solutions and peripheral devices. We offer some of the most sought-after KDS devices in the market which can help players in the hospitality and F&B industry drive customer satisfaction by aiding more accurate order placement, enabling real-time updates from the kitchen, and streamlining meal preparation. By helping businesses go paperless as far as KOTs are concerned, we are proud to say that we help the market take a modest step towards being more sustainable – a cause that is close to our heart. 

Want to know more about our Kitchen Display Systems and other top-of-the-line products? Get in touch with us today! 

Published on 13th January 2025

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